Fury
by vorvol
Summary: The Furious Five has just been formed, and the Jade Palace needs a chef. Po takes the chance to work for his heroes, but destiny doesn't just work simply for the masters and the panda. After all, it takes a monster to fight another. (Rated T for now, TiPo, Tigress-centric)
1. The Gift

**So, yeah. I finally caved and decided to write this already because I don't think there are enough stories that spotlight Tigress' raw badassery, which is a real shame because she's a BAMF. If you wanna know what you're gonna find here, I'll tell you:**

 **This is a gritty version of the first movie, it's violent, explores some dark themes and it has a light and fluffy side with it's family, friendship and *gasp* Tipo scenes. It's also very Tigress-centric.**

 **For example, do you ever wonder what a fight would be like if Tigress decided to use her claws?**

 **There. Enjoy the story. I'll continue depending on how much support I get, but if I do decide to continue, this will probably be a very long multichap fic. :)**

* * *

 _Master Shifu._

Now that's a name Po knows well enough, but not as well as he'd like to.

The panda first hears that name during an average spring Wednesday as he stirs a large vat of noodle broth, when his beloved father slams the door open and nearly trips over his own feet to make the red panda a very special bowl of noodles. "Because it's Master Shifu, the protector of the whole valley!" Mr. Ping later explains.

In less than two minutes, Po finds himself peeking over a counter at the small, small red panda and a tall snow leopard. On his face is the content smile, one that only a father could have, while the younger man beside him just about buries his face in the bowl of noodles with slurps and noises that could rival Po's.

When the man he assumes to be Master Shifu lays his eyes on him, it feels more like the eyes of an entire stadium that those of an old man. He feels those eyes as he walks towards the unusual pair, undeterred.

"Hi." Po says, brightly. "Are you Master Shifu?"

"Hello, young panda. Yes, I am Master Shifu." He holds out a deceptively thin hand. "What is your name?"

"My name's Po." He grins. "Dad really likes you. He puts extra salt in your noodles."

Shifu chuckles. "I noticed. Tell him I give him my compliments."

It's not until the snow leopards sets down his bowl that Po can see him clearly, all built muscles and shoulders wide as a cart.

"Whoa, how'd you get so big?"

The leopard proudly flexes his bicep and gives the panda a sure grin. "I'm training to be the Dragon Warrior, kiddo."

Po blinks innocently. "What's that? It sounds really, really cool."

"Come sit down with me." The snow leopard pats the spot next to him. "I'll tell you everything about it. And by the way, my name is Tai Lung."

That's the day Po first hears the words 'Kung Fu'.

It's during the Dragon Warrior festival that Po is obediently catering to his humble noodle stand, washing dishes and pulling noodles, that he blinks. When his eyes open again, the cart is no longer there. It's thirty feet away and it's a pile of rubble that a rhino guard is currently lying in, his neck twisted in a very unnatural angle.

An angry roar, so filled with fury that Po's blood freezes in his veins. In the very center of the plaza, Tai Lung breathes hard. Fresh blood drips from his claws, previously white and clear as the snow itself. Guards pour onto him like a swarm, yet they're knocked aside one by one, and more red spills onto the simple brick floors.

He is instantly swept up by Mr. Ping, who whispers breathlessly and tells him not to look. But as he goes farther and farther away, he looks to see Tai Lung violently toss Master Shifu aside as the old man attempts to shield a middle-aged pig from those sinister curved claws.

He closes his eyes and whimpers.

* * *

Tai Lung doesn't come back, and neither does Shifu. At least, for a very long time.

The next time Po sees Shifu, he is different. His eyebrows and moustache has whitened and his eyes are strict, stiff, and rigid. His lips are fixed into a slight frown that never moves.

But that's not what catches Po's attention.

A young tiger sits and very enthusiatically eats her noodles. Her fur is orange like a burning fire, the stripes that adorn her darker than an eclipse. She looks young, around Po's age. The other customers observe her for a reason: they don't often see tigers in the Valley Of Peace.

Po keeps a brisk pace as he makes his way to the table, holding two plates on each hand. Each one holds a generous sized bun, still steaming and perfectly warm. Two heads turn his way when Po puts the plate on their table.

"I'm sorry, young Po." Shifu says, the fatigue showing in his heavy eyes. "I think you have the wrong table."

Po shakes his head. "Nu-uh. This is a present for you."

"From your father?"

"No, from me. So you'll come back more."

"Thank you, then." Shifu says, but his voice is devoid of the kindness Po so clearly saw so long ago.

"Yeah, thanks!" The tiger says, before she turns to Shifu. "We'll come back, won't we, father?"

 _Father_. Shifu winces at the word. "We will."

"Yeah!" The tiger pumps her fist, showing Po a sharp pair of fangs as she gives him an excited grin. She takes a large bite out of the bun, graciously filled with Po's best red beans. She makes a noise of delight. "This is delicious."

"I made it myself." Po tells her, scratching the back of his head sheepishly.

"Whoa, that's so awesome." The tiger claps giddily. "I'm gonna come here for breakfast, lunch and dinner every day."

Po gives her an embarrassed laugh. "Thanks."

"Hey, you should visit us at the Jade Palace!" She says, leaning forward animatedly.

"We talked about this..." Shifu says with a scolding stare.

Her ears flatten disappointedly. "Oh, okay..." She gives the panda an apologetic look. "Sorry, Po. But I'll visit you, okay? Then you can teach me how to make buns!" There's a twinkle in her mandarin orange pupils, framed by a yellow that reminds Po of a full moon.

"I'll be waiting." Po smiles, and he means it.

Winters pass, and she never comes back.

Over time, he finds out that Master Shifu has taken her to be his student, although no one knows where she came from. And then there's her name, one that he finds out from gossiping customers and curious children.

 _Tigress._

Po hears whispers now and then, customers wondering who would be cruel enough to name their child that, or rather, who would be cruel enough to _not_ name their child. They tell of how she has forbidding eyes and baleful fangs and claws that can cut through stone.

He sees her sometimes, over the years. Brief glances as she grows older, taller, stronger. He sees her every time bandits threaten the town and every time a thief steals from a defenseless merchant. She moves like a true predator, striking hard and fast to all who dare to fight her with fists as hard as steel. One punch for one enemy. One carries enough force to break flesh and bone like they're sandpaper and toothpicks.

Whenever her name is mentioned by the townsfolk, he wonders what she's doing and whether she forgot her own words. He deflates at the idea, pushing it to the back of his mind yet again.

Not once does he ever come close to her, but that's going to change.

* * *

Po takes a series of short, ragged breaths as he climbs the last step to the Jade Palace before he collapses on the spot. His tongue lolls out comically as he gasps for the crisp morning air. He can't believe he'll have to do this every day, but he'll do it.

After all, he'll be working for the newly formed Furious Five.

"Oh dear," A dark feathered goose feels Po's forehead with his wing. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," Po tries to catch his breath as the goose pulls him up. "Just need lots of water."

The goose chuckles. "My name's Zeng. You must be the cook."

"Oh boy, oh boy!" Po giddily marvels at the sight of the building. "I'm really at the Jade Palace! And I'm going to be working for the _Furious Five_." He seems close to hyperventilating at those last two words. "How cool is that?!"

"Oh, you'll get used to it soon enough." Zeng pats the panda amicably. "They're a bunch of good, hard working people. Popular with the folks too. I can see why you youngsters love seeing them so much. Come on, I'll show you in."

Po picks himself up quickly, his sapped energy seemingly overcome by his fanboyish desires. The tall doors of the Jade Palace opens, and his jaw drops. Immaculately polished floors and sturdy crimson pillars greet him into the very place where his heroes live. The hall is large enough for his footsteps to echo and the floor is polished to the point that he can clearly see his reflection on it.

"See, the Jade Palace isn't really overflowing with staff." Zeng's voice echoes with his footsteps as he leads the way. "Master Oogway insists that as Kung Fu masters, the Furious Five shouldn't live like royalty. They are warriors, after all, and a spoiled and coddled warrior's not a warrior at all. It's not really a problem, though, they're all very down to earth people. It just means that there are no cooks here in the palace. It used to be fine, but Masters Mantis, Monkey, Crane and Viper are living here now..."

"I still can't believe Master Shifu asked _me_ to be the cook here." Po sighs dreamily. "I guess some dreams do come true..."

"Oh no, you have it all wrong." Zeng feels a pang of nostalgia as he watches the young man's enthusiasm. "It's Master Tigress."

* * *

 **There it is, guys. Please review if you're interested in this story. If there's enough interest, I'll definitely continue it from start to finish.**

 **This is for all you Tigress fans. (And the future chapters will be longer.)**


	2. One More

Zeng leads Po to the dining hall, making animated gestures as he gives the panda wholesome explanations of the rooms they pass through and the amusing stories behind each one of them. He tries to listen to the goose, but his mind is still numb—he really is in the Jade Palace, home of heroes. He'll also be here every day from now on, serving food for the most talented young Masters of this generation. Most importantly, he'll see Tigress again and serve her breakfasts, lunches and dinners. She must remember him if she requested his presence as a cook, after all. He'll ask all the questions he can later. He doesn't know if the Masters are allowed appetizers, desserts or snacks, but he still plans the menus in his head.

No one has ever called Po a pessimist, after all, for better or for worse.

"Right, the Furious Five should be done with their morning meditation right about now." Zeng says, sliding open the door to a surprisingly humble looking dining room. "They'd like to welcome you personally. Oh, such humility..."

Po hears the sound of a door sliding open. "Thank you for the compliment, Zeng." Says a woman with a smooth, sweet voice. Po turns around to face the green viper who gives both him and Zeng a hospitable smile—a toothless one. Po gasps audibly, knowing that there is only one of the Masters of all the serpentine styles of Kung Fu who has that quirk.

A little dash of green flashes onto Zeng's shoulder. "I swear, this guy's gonna make my head grow so big I'm just gonna fall over one day." The mantis laughs and pats his shoulder.

A monkey with caramel colored fur somersaults over Viper's shoulder in a hurry, landing perfectly on his feet in front of Po. "Ah, finally!" He gushes, giving Po a friendly grin. "No more waking up before dawn to make breakfast for everyone!"

From next to the viper, a crane straightens his straw hat and punches the monkey jokingly. "Hey, I'm the one who's got to clean everything up."

And then, behind everyone else, is Tigress. She walks past the chattering Masters at a steady pace. Oh, how she's grown—there's the fiery orange fur and inky black stripes, rich with color and shining healthily in the morning light. Po can see the hard, painstakingly built muscles tense and relax as she moves towards him.

The only parts he doesn't recognize are the solid, unflinching glare and the stiff face that seems like it's just almost crossed into a frown.

And she's still walking towards him. Po is caught between excitement and a nervous sweat—the tiger seems like she's going to cook him for dinner if he so much as looks at her wrong. Po can definitely see that she's shorter than him, yet he feels like he's shrinking with every one of her steps.

That's exactly why he's pleasantly surprised when Tigress stops at an arm's length away from him, bowing respectfully.

"Welcome to the Jade Palace." Tigress says after she rises back. Her voice has gotten deeper, and her words sound neither welcoming nor displeased. "Thank you, Po, for-"

Po _beams_."You remember me!" An impossibly large grin threatens to split his face. "I can't believe it, oh, I knew you wouldn't forget!" He begins to pace around the kitchen aimlessly. "All this time, I kept wondering why you didn't come and-" He turns around to find the other four Masters giving him puzzled looks and Tigress seemingly shocked with him cutting her off. He coughs embarrassedly. "Uh, I mean... you guys haven't had breakfast yet, right?"

"No thanks to Monkey here." Mantis snickers. "He's on breakfast duty and he snoozed off this morning. Again."

"But it's the most important meal of the day!" Po reasons worriedly.

"I believe you." Crane rubs his shoulders with a sigh. "I'm having a hard time trying to deflect arrows as it is and having an empty stomach doesn't help."

Po can't tell if he's joking or not. He decides to take it literall, reasoning that Crane _is_ a Kung Fu Master.

"Oh, yeah!" Viper's head shoots up. "Please keep the oil, sugar and salt to a minimum. They make us sluggish."

Monkey lifts himself off the ground with his tail. "What she means if you gotta make everything taste horrible so it's healthy."

"I believe Po will be able to handle his task." Tigress suddenly says, making everyone look to her in astonishment.

"Well, if lady iron fists says it's true, then it's got to be true." Mantis hops onto the avian's shoulder and whispers into his ear.

Tigress's eyes flit towards him. "I can still hear you, Mantis."

Mantis forces a smile and his carapace goes a shade lighter.

"Well, I guess I'll show Po to the kitchen." Zeng nods towards the panda. "If we hurry, he might be able to whip something up by the time you all have your breaks."

* * *

"So, how long have you been working here?" Po casually asks as he and Zeng walk briskly through rooms and halls.

"Since I was a young man." Zeng replies. "I think it's been fifteen years, now."

"You've been here since Tigress moved in?" Po's eyes widen inquisitively.

"Curious about Master Tigress, are you?" Zeng raises an eyebrow. "A lot of people are."

"Of course I am, it's _Master Tigress_." Po stresses the words, baffled. "And I haven't seen her in years."

It's Zeng's turn to "You used to know her?"

 _Used to_. "Yeah." Doubts shows on his face. "I guess. She went to my dad's noodle shop once."

"Once."

"Yep. Once. But she promised to come back!" Po reasons enthusiastically.

Zeng chuckles. _Oh, the young and their hero worship_. "I'm sure Master Tigress has her reasons."

Po tells the goose that he agrees, but a little voice in the back of his mind says otherwise, a voice that's soon swept aside as the panda gets to work. The kitchen is definitely bigger than Mr. Ping's, but he doesn't even feel the fatigue caused by more running around than he's ever done in his father's noodle shop. He gets to work pulling the wheat noodles, mixing the spices, stirring the broth and sorting tea leaves with a swiftness that would make his father proud.

When he's finally done, he wipes his brow and giddily picks up the large pot of broth in one hand and the one filled to the brim with noodles in the other. The grin doesn't leave his face, not even when he nearly tips over under the combined weight. He grunts as he uses the tip of his foot to slide the door open, sighing in relief when he sees that the Furious Five aren't here yet. Setting both pots on the table, he dashes back to the kitchen to fetch the tea and the large pile of vegetables and tofu for the noodles. When he returns, he's balancing five very large bowls on his head, the one on top containing five sets of chopsticks and spoons. Po skillfully sets them up neatly on the table and wonders if he has time to make some sesame balls for desserts when the door suddenly slams to the side.

"Something smells good!" Monkey sniffs, suddenly on top of Po's shoulders. The cook jumps in surprise, just barely managing to catch the teapot he nearly knocks down. Monkey leaps off just in time to save a cup that nearly crashes into the ground. "Oops. Sorry, pal." He scratches the back of his head.

"Damn, Monkey, we get a proper meal for once and you were about to ruin it!" Mantis guffaws and jumps to the edge of the pot full of hot broth. "Oh, yeah, noodles!" He says, rubbing his front legs together hungrily until his face suddenly freezes. "Hot! Hot!" He hollers as he somehow ends up on jumping around on the table and clutching his feet in pain.

"Hey, I didn't even come close to touching the pot." Monkey pouts.

"How about we all start eating instead of talking about eating?" Crane prods, trying his hard not to drool at the wonderful scent. Either this panda is very good at cooking or he's just so hungry that even Tigress' bland cooking seems like something out of the Emperor's dinner table. He decides that he'll decide later, when his belly is full.

"I'm with Crane on this one, boys." Viper chuckles calmly.

And then there's the obvious lack of a certain feline's presence in the room. "So... where's Tigress?" Po asks, as the four seat themselves down. "And Master Shifu?"

Any others would correct him with a blasphemed stare before adding 'Master' before her name, but the new masters don't even bat an eye as the panda proceeds to pick up a bowl and scoop a generous portion of noodles into it.

"Ah, you don't need to do that." Crane clears his throat, clearly flattered by the gesture.

"Of course I do, you're the Furious Five." Po absolutely beams, pouring a steaming ladle's worth of broth in the bowl and handing it to the avian.

Monkey shrugs as he hurriedly receives his bowl. "Master Shifu doesn't usually eat with us." He shoves a pair of chopsticks' worth of noodles in this mouth. "More of a loner, that guy." He says unclearly as he chews, his eyes snapping wide open. His jaw stops moving before he chews once, and once more.

"Uh," Po hands the final bowl to Viper. "Does it taste bad?"

Monkey doesn't answer. Instead, he cocks his head back and buries his face inside the bowl, forgetting all about the chopsticks as he casts them to the side.

"I guess not." Crane raises an eyebrow and shrugs, bringing the chopsticks to his beak. Just like Monkey, he chews, and then he completely ignores the chopsticks as he dips his beak in the bowl and slurps for all he's worth, bits of soup escaping out onto the table.

"Tigress..." Viper's eyes widen. "We forgot to clean up the training hall."

"More for me!" Mantis garbles incoherently from inside the bowl. He had leapt into it before Po could notice, literally swimming in the broth as he rabidly chomps down on pieces of tofu and vegetables.

Viper looks at Po with a bleak smile.

"You go eat, all that smashing," Po strikes a punching pose. "And striking," He chops his hand in the air. "And everything else must have you starved. I'll look for Tigress."

And it's during that exact moment that Tigress enters the room. "Sorry for being late. I was cleaning the hall, I hope I didn't keep anyone..." The tiger stares with a look of utter disbelief at her fellow masters. Viper doesn't have her face buried in soup, but she looks just like she's this close to swallowing the bowl whole. As for Mantis, she would have missed him if it wasn't from the splashing coming from his bowl. "Waiting..."

"Tigress, you're here!" Po's face lights up and he bows and gestures to the empty seat with her still hot breakfast. "Eat them while they're hot." He says, before his stomach rumbles with a mighty growl.

Almost immediately, Crane and Monkey remove their faces from their dishes, the latter's face completely soaked. Mantis' head pops out into the air and Viper stops with her mouth open, a piece of spinach just one closed mouth away from sliding into her hungry stomach.

Po laughs awkwardly. "Oops."

"Po," Tigress calls out his name. His attention is immediately on her. "When did you set out to the Jade Palace this morning?"

"Before the sun even rose." He answers proudly, holding a fist to his chest. His belly bounces as he does this, knocking an adjacent chair an inch away.

Tigress deduces that it must have taken him two hours at least to make it up here. "And did you have breakfast?"

"No," He scratches his own chin a bit self-consciously. "I guess I got too excited to see you guys!" He follows enthusiastically.

"Then please have breakfast with us." Tigress sits down on the chair next to Mantis. "It's important to eat in the morning or else you'll lose your strength."

Po makes a sound of excitement, even with Tigress' toneless words. He shakes Monkey's shoulder, nearly making him choke. "Did you see that?!" Po says, his face close enough to smell the tofu on him. "Did _you_ see that?!" He does the same thing to Crane, nearly poking his eye out with the sharp beak. "Oh, this is the best day of my life!" He shakes the bowl with Mantis still inside it. He bounces around, gasping for air as he reaches the surface. Po makes an attempt to grab Viper's shoulders, but as she had none, he settles for wrapping his large fingers around her body. "Tigress asked me to have breakfast with all of you!"

Tigress finds herself staring dumbly again as Po sweeps her into a massive hug that lifts her off her feet. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!" He squeezes harder with each word.

She pushes his chest away, soft enough to just make him back away. She coughs. "Personal space." She says, stepping back a little bit.

"Sorry." Po slumps a little dejectedly.

"Do not be. One should be honest in all their expressions."

Po thanks her one more time before he rushes off to fetch himself some breakfast.

Tigress remembers the last time she was hugged, but she doesn't know how long ago it was.

* * *

Mantis, Crane and Monkey all lie back on their chairs as they rub their stomachs. Viper is curled peacefully around her chair, looking as if she's on the brink of falling asleep. Her eyes certainly droop enough.

Tigress, however, is still on her third serving and she doesn't look like she's going to stop any time soon.

Po's chopsticks are neatly placed on his completely clean bowl after one extra meal. The only reason he doesn't go on is because the noodles are running low and Tigress is still eating like she hasn't had anything before.

Although she eats at an average pace, without the slightest hint of rushing, Po swears he can see the corner of her lips rise just a little bit after each bite. He thinks he's seeing things at first, but then he looks closer and finds that he's right.

"One more, please." Tigress holds out her bowl again.

"You're joking." Mantis gapes. "How can you still eat? I mean, those noodles are _good_ , but there's no way anyone can eat this much."

"I am not joking, Mantis." Tigress pays no attention to him as Po gladly gives her more.

"Nobody can resist my dad's noodles." Po tells him.

"Must be for all those insane muscles." Monkey reasons.

"That makes sense." Viper nods. "I mean, I've heard lots of stories about Tigress' killer strength, but I didn't know how strong she was until I saw her do that thing yesterday."

"I know, right?" Crane wipes his mouth with a napkin. He gives Tigress a curious look. "How do your fists not hurt from doing that?"

"Practice." Tigress answers simply, arranging her cup inside her bowl neatly. "Thank you for the food, Po."

"Any time!"

"Hey Po, you should watch her do that thing with the steel balls after break." Mantis burps loudly. "You won't believe your virgin eyes."

That's an invitation that Po intends to accept. It takes a while to haul back everything to the kitchen, wash them spotless and put them back, but he immediately bolts to the training hall, wherever it is. It's only when Zeng points out that he's been running in circles does he run to the right direction.

He opens the door, ready to witness the awesomeness of 'the thing', and the thing flies at his face in maximum velocity. Something very hard and heavy hits him square in the forehead and Po's head flies back. He panics, hoping his head hasn't practically flown off because he can't feel his legs and he's falling down.

* * *

 **Okay, reception has been pretty good. I'll have to do a couple of chapters to see if this fanfic racks up enough regular readers to continue.**

 **I update all my stories based on how much attention they get. Stories with less attention get updated less because I prioritize the ones that more people are waiting for, so make sure to drop in for a review if you're interested in this story!**

 **Thanks for reading, R &R :)**


	3. Orientation Night

I AM SORRY FOR THE LATE UPDATE. As usual, I write the story with the most reviews on that week's chapter first, but... yeah, some stuff came up and I was busy for a few days.

 **I keep tabs on which story has the best reader responses to determine which ones I should continue to update quickly and regularly, so drop in and say hi :)**

* * *

Mr. Ping walks in circles for the umpteenth time tonight as he just about squeezes his hat to the point of ruining it for good.

Where is his boy? It's not that late, but he's supposed to be home an hour ago. Po has never been late- the young man may be a tad bit too easily distracted, but he always keeps his promises.

When he hears the sound of knocking on the door, he leaps into the air in joy. His boy must be home! He must've been so lost in thought that he didn't hear Po's usual lumbering footsteps, he thinks, as he skips towards the door.

He turns the doorknob and pulls the door back. "Welcome home, son!" He exclaims, only to be met with a pair of glowing yellow eyes and piercing orange pupils.

That's not his son who bows respectfully to him, although her face is fixed like stone. "Mr. Ping. I am Master Tigress of the Jade Palace."

"Master Tigress!" He bows with such urgency that he almost plants his face into the ground. "What brings you to my humble noodle shop?" He's already closed, but he could never turn away the protector of the valley and his son's hero

"I come to apologize." Tigress says, her voice slightly strained. "Your son was involved in a mishap in the Jade Palace's training hall. He is fine, but out cold at the moment. The fault is mine."

Tigress hears Mr. Ping hold his breath. She can't bring herself to meet his eyes. "An accident?"

"Yes." Tigress nods apologetically, her voice unwavering. "I claim responsibility for this and I am prepared for any punishment you have for me."

Mr. Ping gulps. Tigress is more than used to the reaction, even after years of protecting her home valley. She has a feeling that the goose would consider punching her where it counts if she wasn't _Master_ _Tigress_."He's okay?" His voice shakes.

"Yes, he is. However, he is still resting. If you must know, his head was struck with a practice steel ball."

To the tiger's absolute surprise, Mr. Ping laughs. "Oh, my boy's tougher than he looks. He gets into accidents like that sometimes, since he's quite the excitable man." And then he notices that the master is still standing outside his door. "Please come in, Master Tigress, let me make you a cup of tea."

Tigress scans the man to see if he's joking. "Ah, I'm sorry. I need to buy dinner for the Furious Five." She grimaces in what seems to be shame. "I did cause the cook's unavailability, after all. I also don't think I should overstay my welcome, I can see that you are closed."

"No, I insist!" Mr. Ping jumps between Tigress as she turns towards the door. "I'll make you the house special for the entire five. My son too, if you don't mind. Oh, and Master Shifu and Master Oogway!"

Tigress supposes that this is where Po gets his enthusiasm from. Reluctantly, she stands down. She figures that he's probably hoping that free food will encourage them all to come back here—serving the Furious Five will make for some good publicity. "Very well. Thank you very much, sir."

* * *

Tigress stretches her tired arms as her paws silently tread over the cold wooden panels. She can hear Viper flipping through a book, Mantis humming on his mattress, Crane mumbling to himself as he observes his latest calligraphic work and Monkey munching on an almond cookie.

She can also hear loud, lumbering footsteps from one of the guest rooms, the one right across her bedroom. He must be awake, she thinks to herself. She supposes that checking on him is the right thing to do- she did knock him out earlier. Then she'll retire to her room and have an early night.

Just as she's about to slide the door open, a certain panda beats her to it. He's holding something behind his back and he's, for some reason, looking over his back while he walks forward and just nearly walks into the tiger.

Tigress puts her hand on his chest just before he collides with her, and the panda nearly falls backwards as he runs into something very hard and rough mid-step- the tiger master's palm. His butt makes a sizable thump as it collides with the floor and Po squeaks in surprise as he realizes just who he nearly ran into.

"Tigress! You're back!" He immediately springs back onto his feet, a hand still behind his back.

"Yes, I am. I have informed your father that you will be staying here tonight." Tigress says, eyeing the panda's hidden hand. "But first, I must apologize for the incident this afternoon."

"Aw, shucks, it's no big deal." Po finally shows her what's in his hand. A very large, perfectly round bun that fits perfectly on his palm. "So, I made this for you. I thought you'd be tired after walking all the way down there and back. Thanks a bunch for the dinner too!"

"That is not necessary." She automatically says, although she says it with more uncertainty than she'd like. She sniffs the air and hopes Po doesn't notice; it smells just like it did when she came to Mr. Ping's noodle shop all those years ago. She feels her mouth grow wet.

Po responds by holding up the still warm bun to her nose. "Oh, come on, you must be spent from punching walls," He punches the air with his free hand. "Meditating under a freezing waterfall," He sits on a lotus position on the floor before he springs back up and brings the bun right back under Tigress' nose. "And other awesome stuff!"

Tigress doesn't correct him—she doesn't do any of those. The walls would probably cave in, anyway. Instead, she takes a deep breath and concludes that it's not too late and she didn't have a lot to eat this dinner. "Okay, then. Thank you." She takes it into her hand and walks past the panda towards the garden.

Predictably, Po follows. "So, Tigress... You remember me, right?"

"Yes, I do." Tigress says, her voice strained. It was her first day in the Valley of Peace her last one there too, for a long time. She rarely went down, not during the grueling days of backbreaking training she endured for years and years on end.

"So, uh..." Po tries to find the right words, nervously trailing behind the woman who doesn't even glance back at him as they enter what seems to be a room with a large, tall door that leads to the outside. Why didn't you come back?"

Tigress' hand stalls as it touches the bronze doorknob. I couldn't. "I'm sorry for not keeping my word. My Kung Fu training kept me from coming down." _Among other things_. She hushes the voice in her head and pushes the door open.

"Oh... Okay." Po sighs with an odd combination of relief and disappointment. He is glad that she didn't do it because she forgot him, but that exact reason is why he feels like shriveling up for a second—she remembered, but she still didn't come. Then again, he doesn't know how tough her training really is, but she does have days off, doesn't she? Couldn't she have visited then? He shakes his head because he doubts that it matter anyway, since the master of the tiger style doesn't even show a shred of remorse.

Or maybe he's just bad at reading her, or maybe she really doesn't care. He thought she was his friend, but she doesn't act one now. It makes sense, of course, because they only met once. Po keeps reminding himself of this. He knows he'll keep trying, though, because he's just that kind of person.

Maybe she's just one of those people who don't express their fondness very well? He thinks about asking that after he questions her about how she got so serious.

The garden is very well maintained, yet it retains a natural vibe with it's well trimmed grasses, sturdy trees and the clear pond by a sturdy gazebo. Po recalls it as the one built thirty years ago by the residents of the valley as a thanks to Master Oogway's victory in the 'Battle Of Yingpei', as people have come to calling it. To the far right is a mound of earth with one lone peach tree resting on top of it like an old man rests on his lifetime home. It's leaves sway gently in the wind, and the old tree looks as comfortable as Po himself with some dim sum in bed.

Po is too busy gaping at the stars, seeming so close he feels like he could just take one between his fingers to keep forever, to notice that Tigress is already sitting down on an aged stone bench by the pond and staring intently at the food in her hand—the one she'd rather have in her stomach.

"Go ahead." Po sits down next to her. "I already had my dinner." He could fill some more of his belly, but judging by Tigress' reluctance to eat it already, he thinks it's wise to keep quiet.

Tigress nods. "Thank you for the food." She curtly says, and then takes a bite.

She has no idea how she's managed to live this long without eating Po's cooking and instead eating her and Master Shifu's bland porridge and rice dishes every day. Even the sauces and vegetables they added in weren't very useful in adding any taste. Now, her mouth is blooming with the flavor of perfectly mixed spices and she'll never admit that she's chewing so long because she wants it to last for as long as it can.

"So," Po coughs and grins too widely for someone's who's watching another person eat. "What's your favorite food?"

Tigress almost feels bad that she's a little bit annoyed to have to swallow before she replies. "Tofu. It has good nutritional value."

Po seems befuddled by the answer. "That's it?"

"Yes." She says, immediately resuming her eating.

He'll make sure to make some tofu for her tomorrow, then. He snaps his fingers. "Ah, what's your favorite color?"

Tigress chews in silence as she ponders the question. What is her favorite color? She never really thought about it. "Red." She then answers. All her clothes are red, after all.

Po surprises the tiger by pulling out a notebook and pen from who knows where, scribbling down her answers. "What's the hardest thing you've ever punched?"

"I don't remember." How could she, after those ironwood trees and the heavily armored mercenaries, not to mention the occasional hard-skinned alligators and crocodiles she has to fight? She tries to savor the last bite as she pops it into her mouth, keeping it there for as long as she can.

Po crosses out the last question, eyes absentmindedly going over the master. A stray nighttime breeze blows an errant blade of grass onto the feline's whiskers, which she responds to by huffing and flicking it away. For a moment, Po thinks it must've been the blow to the head he suffered earlier, but then he takes a closer look.

Yes, it's definitely there. Specks of dark red on the tiger's knuckles.

"Tigress!" Po exclaims, grabbing her hand. "You're bleeding."

Po willfully examines the very hand that have caused the fall of so many in battle. Predictably, they're hard and honed to perfection, even the flesh of her palms are as dense as bone. He's never noticed it before now, but the callouses on those knuckles have gotten to the point that even her fur can't cover them anymore. He can't imagine how many times she's had to bleed and heal over and over again, for so many years, before she achieved this.

His little fanboy heart can barely handle the new piece of trivia he'll tell his father about when he gets back.

"It's not a rare occurence for this to happen." Tigress explains to him, pulling back her hand with a little more force than necessary.

"Why don't you bandage them?" Po says, making a move to examine the hand.

Suddenly, Tigress' ear twitches and she looks towards the door leading to the palace- the open door, with Viper, Crane, Mantis and Monkey approaching them.

Crane waves at the duo with one wing as the other one fixes his hat. "Hey, you two."

"We were planning on going to town for a bit, to get a little fun in between all this." Mantis says, hopping with a little more spring in his step.

Viper nods. "We're going to be working together from now on, won't we?" She looks at Tigress expectantly. "It would be great if we all got to know each other."

"Plus, all work and no play's got to be bad for you." Monkey adds, giving Po a grin.

"Yes, yes, yes!" Po jumps and pumps his fist in the air. "My legs are going to be half dead by the time we get there, but yes!"

Tigress stares at the panda with disbelief. "You shouldn't be out and about after having a concussion."

"I had a concussion?" Po cluelessly looks down at her.

"Yes." Tigress replies, as if the answer is obvious to him. "When one is knocked out, one experiences a concussion."

Monkey shrugs. "I don't know, do you feel like falling over now?"

Po walks forwards and backwards experimentally. "Nope, all fine."

"Do you hear any ringing in your ears?" Viper slithers over.

Po falls silent again. "Nothing."

"Then let's go, already!" Mantis jumps onto Po's head impatiently. "While the night market's still open!"

"We need to get some medicinal stuff." Crane explains to Po, opening up a wing to show a patch with it's feathers scratched off. It looks cleaned and not too big, but Po winces nonetheless. "Turns out that sparring with fellow masters will get you hurt sooner or later."

Tigress's eye twitches. If they had told her about going down before, she would have waited until then to buy dinner without running back and forth as if she had nothing better to do.

"Oh, great, this lady who runs the store is a regular at my dad's noodle shop." Po says, his feet almost bouncing on the ground. He's about to go out with the Furious Five. "I know the way."

"Great, lead the way." Viper laughs a little self-consciously. "We don't really know the roads yet since we just got here."

Po suddenly turns to the other long-time resident of the valley. "What about Tigress? She's lived here for a long time."

Tigress crosses her arms. Po can't see her squeezing her bicep as she frowns. Luckily for her, no one else notices either. "I don't leave the palace very much. I'm in town just when I'm needed."

"Then that's one more reason we gotta go down there!" Po reasons, and then thinking for a bit. "I should probably go home too, so I can help my dad out with the dishes."

Tigress shakes her head. "No. I already helped him with those earlier." She can see the rest of the Five all look at each other in bewilderment. "I do not want an uninvolved party to be disadvantaged because of my mistake. I was the reason you couldn't make it there to help him. Therefore, I had to do it myself." She explains.

This only makes Po's admiration for her swell even more, judging by the excitement in his voice that seems to grow even larger. "Then we can just go down and have some fun, right? We have time!"

Tigress contemplates for a moment. Aside from Crane's wounded wing, she can also see Monkey slightly favoring one leg that isn't completely sore from a shin kick that was too strong. The tiger has to remind herself to hold back on the power tomorrow. "Fine, but we have to be quick. We need adequate sleep for tomorrow."

Po and Monkey high five each other, and they're on their way.

* * *

So it seems that our band of heroes are going for a short trip. I'll be taking some suggestions if you have any!

Someone asked why Tigress isn't very hostile here. Okay, I don't remember if I've mentioned this before, but Po has done absolutely nothing to make the Five hate him here. Therefore, they treat him normally. Tigress is still cold and stiff, but she's not an asshole just because. This is the beginning of the story, peeps, calm down :).

Remember to review, if this story gets more reviews than my other one, that fanfic will get the later update instead of this one *wink wonk*.


	4. First Blood

Hi, guys. I hope the time it took for this update is worth it for how long this chapter is. **As usual, thanks for reading, and I still update my stories based on how much feedback they get because I have other fanfics to work on, so I can't update them all at the same time, so please drop in if you like this story.**

This chapter isn't the start of the plot. Instead, it's more of a little fleshing out to get you guys used to how things work here. Without further ado, enjoy!

* * *

Tigress is thoroughly surprised by the sheer vibrance of colors. The night market is absolutely bustling, with bright red lanterns hanging overhead, the sounds of buyers and merchants chattering and trading, and the smell of sizzling street food around every corner. She's absolutely overwhelmed by the volume of people buzzing around, mountain cats and raccoon dogs, foxes and deer, all talking and laughing and eating.

"It's just this way." Po has to say it loudly to be heard as he motions for them to follow him. "It's just around the corner, not too far away."

Tigress doesn't rush to him. The panda is so much taller than most of the people that she doubts she'll lose sight of him. Besides, they don't have a hard time at all walking to the store, even in this crowd—the people don't mind Po, not at all, but they catch sight of her and they stay clear. Her sharp ears pick up their words, even amidst all the noise.

"It's Master Tigress." A lady ibex loudly whispers to her male companion.

The male laughs her off good-naturedly. "Oh, dear, you've had too much to drink."

"Look at her, you silly man." The woman discreetly points to the tiger. "It's Master Tigress."

"Well, would you look at that." The man whistles. "It's the first time I've seen her in the valley without some troublemakers to get rid of. And is that Mr. Ping's son?"

"That's young Po, right there. Oh, and those others must be the new Furious Five!"

Tigress keeps her eyes forward, not minding the increasingly obvious stares she's getting from the civilians. Viper, Crane, Monkey and Mantis seem quite excited at this, though, occasionally waving and smiling at them until Po stops by a modest, average looking shop. A large sign is hung over the door: 'Mrs. Wong's Acupuncture and Medicine'. The 'Mrs.' is crossed out with red paint.

"Oh, yeah, I forgot about all this..." Po coughs and keeps his voice down as he inches closer to them. " _Miss_ Wong really hates being called Mrs. She just got married, but she says adding 'Mrs.' to her hame makes her look old." Then he turns around as if nothing happened, and he casually walks to the doorway. "Come on, guys!"

Po knocks on the door. "Miss Wong, it's me, Po."

A muffled voice comes from inside. "Come in, boy!" Miss Wong says, in a nasal voice and an odd accent.

Po opens the door, and the five follow. The walls are lined with shelves filled with herbs, flowers, mushrooms and other things Tigress doesn't recognize. The floors are clean, while an expensive looking burgundy rug with gold trims sits in the middle of the room. A counter sits in front of a door that leads to the rest of the house, and Tigress hears the sound of clinking jars and rustles under it.

"Miss Wong, look who I brought here." Po says, walking towards the counter.

To Tigress' utter surprise, Miss Wong springs up from under the counter. The cobra's rows of shiny, dark brown scales is a stark contrast to her bright yellow eyes and the equally bright stripes running down her scales. A gold ring pierces the side of her bottom lip, while the edges of her eyes are lined with dark paint that end in sharp points on the corners of her eyes. The woman's oil black tongue flicks in and out as she observes them. She doesn't look very impressed, although she doesn't look miffed either.

"Ah," She draws the word out. "You must be the new Furious Five." She slithers by the counter and in front of them faster than any normal person should be able to go. She stops and raises herself in front of Tigress, bending herself from left to right as she observes her eyes, her arms, and her legs. "Hmmm... very good bone and muscle structure. Nice fur too. I like the stripes." She moves to Monkey next. "Very nice chest. Must climb a lot, yes?"

"Uh, yeah." Monkey raises an eyebrow at Po, who smiles at him to play along.

"You." Miss Wong's face nearly presses into Viper's. The green snake leans back uncomfortably. "I know you. You are Xiaowen's girl."

"That's Master-" Viper moves to correct her, only to stop. No, she's Master Viper now, not her father. "Yes."

"It takes some getting used to, I know." Miss Wong chuckles, a nostalgic smile on her face. "But you'll get used to it. You're the only Master of the snake styles who hasn't got venom, aside from Master Anaconda."

Viper suddenly remembers something. "Wait, how do you know my father? Our village is so far away from here, and you don't sound like you're from China."

"Hah!" Miss Wong guffaws. "It got boring in that little village of yours. Left so I wouldn't find whiny wimps coming after me whenever someone stole their rice ball."

Viper gasps, drawing muddled glances from the rest. "You're... You're..."

"Shhhhh." Miss Wong raises the tip of her tail to her lips. "Keep it down, girl, or I'm gonna pack up and move again. I'm only telling you this 'cause masters know how other masters move, you'll figure me out soon or later."

"You're Master Cobra." Viper lowers her voice, giving the woman a disbelieving glare. "What are you _doing_ here?"

"Running the shop, you idiot." Cobra deadpans.

"Wait a minute," Po steps between the two snakes, shaking his head furiously as he channels his inner Kung Fu Encyclopedia. "Master Cobra." He slowly recites. "Master Cobra of the Whispering Fang?"

"That's the one." She nods. "Took you long enough."

"Master Cobra who defeated the entire Hundred Stampede?" Po's voice gets increasingly higher.

"They were a bunch of smelly idiots."

"I can't believe it." Crane chips in, scanning the long lost Master. "Some people said you ascended to the spirits."

"The spirits on the bottom of a tavern bucket, more like it." She sighs. "Anyway, what are you all doing here? Make it quick, _Mrs._ Wong is coming home and I haven't made dinner."

"Hold on," Monkey scratches his head, trying to get his facts straight. "I thought you were Mrs. Wong."

The cobra's eye twitches. " _Miss_ Wong, you baboon. And no, _Mrs. Lin_ Wong is my wife."

"Oh, I get it now." Mantis says, knocking Monkey on the head. "She ran away to get married! Getting some lovin' in is hard when you're busy doing Master stuff every day."

"Oh, so that's how it is." Po's stare is blank as if he's using all his power to process the information. " _Oh_." He runs up to her. "I can't believe I've been getting my cold medicine from Master Cobra all along! This is... this in incredible! I need your autograph! When did you meet Mrs. Wong? Where?"

Cobra doesn't even try to suppress her exasperation. "Do you boys and girls want anything or not? I need to hurry and make dinner. Why don't you follow the tiger's example and be quiet?"

"I thought you told us to tell you what we wanted." Monkey snickers.

The Master of the Cobra style is in the middle of groaning when she hears knocking. She grumpily heads for the door, and Po's sure she'd be stomping if she had legs. "Coming, honey!" She calls out, before she opens the door to a sight that makes her heart lurch.

Mrs. Wong is there, surely, but the plump, petite mouse's teary eyes are darting around in fear. Her whiskers seem to shake like the rest of her body as she tries not to move, lest the edge of the knife pressed to her throat pierces her skin.

"S-Siu..." Lin squeaks softly, pressed against the massive chest of the bull behind her.

The bull, clad in a full set of leather armor, roars in laughter, his monstrous hand on the small mouse's trembling soldier. The crocodile beside him joins him in laughter, soon accompanied by a wolf and a mountain cat dressed in similar ensembles.

"That's Master Cobra, little lady." The bull chuckles darkly, the hand on his knife tightening over the weapon. "Masters have no use over their old names, isn't that right?"

Cobra seethes where she stands. Tigress can see her physically struggling to hold her tongue as her hood widens and her stance lowers.

"Boys," The bull calls his men over. "Take the runaway Master, would you? And the rest of you," He glares at the Furious Five and Po, but mainly Tigress. "I know who you are. Don't you try anything."

The bull's goons have to lower their heads to enter the shop. It takes approximately half a second for Tigress to nod ever so slightly to the members of the Five, and they give her a look of understanding. As the mountain cat clamps his hands around Cobra's head, Po gives her an urgent stare.

 _Help them._

Tigress looks away.

Cobra is lifted off the ground as the mountain cat keeps a tight hold over her, and the bull moves out of the doorway.

Blood pounds in Po's head. Why aren't the five doing anything? They're supposed to save her. He looks over Tigress, Viper, Crane, everybody. They're not moving. They're just watching. It's odd, but Po's hands are shaking so hard, even though his mind can't process anything—it's the exact opposite from the Masters, who all stand with their eyes calm and their breaths even.

He has to do something, but what? One wrong move and Lin is dead. Po holds his breath as he wrecks his brain for something, _anything_ , but nothing comes up.

And then it happens so fast that Po nearly misses it.

The bull moves out of the way to let the mountain cat carry Cobra out. The snake's eyes speak volumes of her agony as she gives her wife an unspoken apology.

It's during this moment that the bull's grip on the knife slacks and he lets it stray from Lin's neck, and Viper strikes. In an instant, her body snaps at him like a whip and she coils around his arm. His arm bends to the side before he has any idea what's happening and she twists, then tightens her body. A clean crack sounds in the air and he screams in agony as he drops his knife, his wrist broken in a sickening angle.

Cobra's tail lashes out at the feline's eye, finding her target with pinpoint precision. She pierces him easily and his hands pull back towards his left eyeball, roaring in pain as blood seeps through his fingers and thick droplets fall to the ground.

Crane, Mantis, Monkey and Tigress dash outside the door, each heading for their own opponents.

Mantis skillfully dodges the heavy swings of the crocodile's halberd, the large weapon not even coming close to scratching him. One particularly heavy swing leads to the crocodile losing his footing, and Mantis takes the chance to leap on the blade and swiftly scurrying upwards before he's launched into the air by the anticipating brute. Grinning, the crocodile prepares to slice the master as he's airborne, only to be narrowly avoided. Mantis rockets downwards and locks onto a pressure point strike to the middle of his eyes. He lands one shot, quick and accurate, and the crocodile drops to the ground.

The wolf is more intelligent and fast, flicking his wrist and throwing blade after blade of throwing knives, most of which are kept on his belt. Crane's feet swivel clockwise, counterclockwise, and over again as his wings redirect, not deflect, the incoming barrage. He moves like water, flowing, without a hint of resistance. The knives are discarded to the side without a fight, his movements swift as the wind.

Citizens begin to gather in a very wide circle around them, keeping enough distance from them, but one stray knife almost goes into a sheep's foot and Po can see something change in Crane's eyes. The gentle avian's pupils almost seem to darken as a grimace crosses his face. He sidesteps to avoid the next knife hurled towards him, perfectly grabbing it and turning in a circle. He hurls it right back, where it's buried in the wolf's neck. The wolf gives him one last look of shock before red stains the white of his fur, and he drops to the ground.

Po's blood runs cold. This isn't supposed to happen. Crane can't kill, he's too much of a good man. He's a _Master_ , he's supposed to be good enough to handle them without killing.

Then the panda looks around. People, people everywhere. People watching, people running away, people ushering away children and the eldery.

' _Kung Fu Masters are allowed to use lethal force if innocents are in harm's way, or if they are unable to complete their task otherwise_.' The quote from a scroll he read once, long ago, pops into his head like a long lost memory.

As if to remind him again, Cobra hisses as she strikes one of the men with her frighteningly sharp fangs, quick as lightning and over before Po can blink. She stands alert, her fangs still bared and coated with blood. He gives her a brief look of despair—he knows he's going to die. He snarls, his sorrow turning to anger, and twirls his sickle in his hand. He aims for her neck, right before Monkey ambushes him from behind with a spinning kick that hits his jaw hard. He reflexively turns around and swings his sickle wildly, only for his face to be met by a leaping palm strike that destroys the soft cartilage of his nose. Unnatural dark red trickles down from his nostrils before he tries to strike back, until he can't—his limbs freeze like his blood is solid rock, Po sees his chest contract as he tries to breathe, but can't. Monkey flips backwards and pirouettes of his chest, and his body falls like a rag doll.

In the midst of it all, the bull unsheathes a large, curved sword from the scabbard on his hip. He grins madly at the Master of the Tiger style as the iron glints under the light of the lanterns. Tigress's stance is low, like a predator ready to pounce, and her face is the paragon of focus. There is no anger in her eyes, nor fear, just cold calmness.

To the bull's utter surprise, she pounces first, and with alarming speed. He steps back to create some distance for a counterattack, wholly shocked, because who the _hell_ charges headfirst at a bull with a sword?

Apparently, Tigress does. To his absolute horror, before the edge of his sword can even touch her, she swats his hand to the side, and the blade with it. It flies into the air, spinning dangerously before it lands into a nearby barrel of fruit. Without a hint of hesitation, Tigress' fist clenches, and Po can see the steel-hard knuckles tighten from where he is before it rams into his chest, quite literally. Her monstrous fists crush through his leather armor, drilling into flesh and breaking bone. He makes a choked noise as his ribcage shatters, splintering and piercing into him. He falls forward as bile rises from his throat. A vicious uppercut nails him as he falls, and his neck snaps backwards with the sheer monstrous force that hits him.

He collapses.

Something dark and fast moves in the corner of Po's eye. He looks around, only to find nothing out of the ordinary.

Numbers of animals spring from the shadows in the streets, from carts and windows, like vengeful ghosts on a full moon. Crane's wounded wing deflect and attack with brittleness that's uncharacteristic of him, and Monkey's weight is distributed oddly on the side of his body as he favors his good leg. The five and Cobra are flanked in the middle of a perfect circle of snarling, vicious animals.

This attack was well planned.

"Mrs. Wong," Po grabs the mouse's small wrist. "Stay behind me."

"Po," The woman holds to his much larger arm, trying to avert her eyes from the bodies. "What's going on?"

Something cold and hard is pressed on Po's jugular. He doesn't need to look down to see what it is. _How did he get behind me?_

"Nothing," A panther's gruff voice sounds, and Po finds himself too afraid to even breathe as the knife's edge presses against him. "Panda fur fetches a good price in the black market, son." He chuckles greedily into Po's ear.

It's during this moment that Tigress catches sight of him and stops in her tracks. She snarls, frustrated, knowing she can't be fast enough to reach him before he slits Po's throat open.

The cold iron is so close to piercing skin that Po can't even muster the strength to gulp- he's fairly sure that even talking will make him lose his life, but he has to try. He looks down at the frightened Lin Wong, her small body seemingly shrinking in fear. "Run." He chokes, staring into Lin's teary eyes.

"She won't." The panther laughs. "Or maybe she will. We'll just hunt you down again, rat."

Tigress growls, backhanding a crocodile. _What should I do?_ The question rages in her mind over and over again. _What_ can _I do?_

"Hey, asshole." Cobra glides slowly, relaxed as she approaches the panther. "I'm the one you want."

"Even better." He smirks arrogantly. "First, panda fur, and now I have king cobra-" He blinks, and when his eyes open, Cobra's fangs are buried in his throat. He cries out, dropping his arms immediately to pinch at the two puncture holes on his neck.

In his futile effort to squeeze the venom out, he allows the panda to pry him off. Po almost trips over his feet when he rushes towards Lin. The mouse gesture for him to hurry to her, behind a sturdy looking food cart.

Before Cobra can finish him off, Tigress lunges towards him and lands a devastating side kick to the side of his knee. His kneecap is fractured under the hard impact and he falls ungracefully to the ground, where he points his knife to the tiger in a last ditch attempt to keep her away. He tries to crawl away, wincing with every move, his leg dragging on the ground.

Tigress finishes him off quick. She leaps to the side and kicks low, shattering his other knee before she turns around just in time to counter a bulky elk's spear with a vicious punch that sends him flying towards a stack of barrels. Splinters of wood fly in the air as he crashes into the pile, unconscious.

The silence is deathly thick, only broken once Lin releases the breath she never even knew she was holding. She gulps as the blood seeps into the crevices of the stone tiles, forming shapes in the indentations of the old road. The poor animals struck by Cobra's potent venom spasm lifelessly on the ground, fingers twitching and eyelids half closed.

"Hey, get rid of the dead ones, would you?" Cobra says to Viper, her voice soft enough to not be heard by the watching citizens around them. "I don't want Lin to see this."

Viper nods, lightly scrunching her nose at the corpse. She won't admit it, she can't, but the sight makes her scales crawl. She takes a deep breath and ignores it- she's a Master now. She has to do this. As she begins to move, she feels a tail on her side.

"Thanks, Xi-... Master Viper." Cobra smiles, her voice without a hint of anything but gladness. "You deserve the name."

Viper nods. The only name the world will know her by is now Master Viper, after all. "Any time."

Po hesitates to even touch the coughing bull, sure that even the slightest touch will make him cough up even more blood than he has. The entire front side of him is soaked in the foul smelling liquid. "Hey, come on, I'll help you to the nearest medicine person." He says, his hands and voice trembling uncontrollably.

He had just watched two men die, and one more is slipping off right in front of him.

"The guards will take him." Tigress says, without a hint of emotion. "Mantis has notified them. They will arrive shortly."

Po looks at her, horrified. "But Tigress, he's dying!" He hooks his arms under the bull's limping frame, trying with all his might to drag him into the shop. "Master Cobra has to help, or Mrs. Wong! Anybody."

Cobra sighs and gives Tigress a sorry look, before she moves to the panda, without so much as looking at the dying bull below her. "Kid, I'm not helping the man who threatened my wife with a knife and tried to kill us all, including _you._ "

"But you're Master Cobra-"

"Yes." The snake spits, scowling at the panda. "Yes I am, I know I'm Master Cobra, and I can't go back to being Siu." She takes a glance to her wife, who's being comforted by Monkey and Crane. "I definitely can't be Siu Wong, no matter how much I try. And you, you're going to get into loads of trouble, being seen with me and the Furious Five."

Po's mouth clamps shut at this, but he forces it open. "What do you mean?"

"You've been coming to my shop for years, Po." Cobra's voice smooths out as her tail gently lands on Po's hand. "Forget about everything you thought about us. Everything you read in the scrolls is absolute shit. Everyone knows about the heroics, but this," She cocks her head to the dead bodies behind her. "Nobody wants to know about it. You've just danced right in the middle of everything, with five masters too."

That's the last thing she says before she leaves for her wife.

Several guards rush towards the scene. They don't ask questions- one sight of Tigress and the four, and they simply nod their respects to them before they tend to the bodies.

Po quietly watches as the guards lift up the corpses and carry them away in bags, the rest helping the wounded on stretchers. In just a few minutes, the only evidence that people have died here will be just dried blood stains on the ground.

The thought is quite morbid.

"Are you hurt?"

The voice snaps Po out of his watching. Tigress crosses her arms impatiently as she waits for his answer.

"No." He answers, numbly.

"Good." She nods. "Then we have succeeded tonight."

"Succeeded?" Po asks, flabbergasted. "Tigress, two people died tonight, how is that a success?"

"I could smell them." Tigress explains briefly. "I could sense them hiding, we could all tell that there were more. We had to finish as fast as we could so they wouldn't hurt the people."

"But-"

"Look around you." Tigress cuts him off, although there's no malice in her words.

Po does. The fleeing animals have partially returned, some to close up shop for the night and some to see what's been going on. He sees everyone, from pups to elderly squirrels and mothers and uncles.

"We wouldn't have been able to save everyone if they took one more person." She tells him bluntly. "These things have happened before. Many did not end as favorably. Both you and Lin Wong were held at knife point. The only reason you're not dead is because Master Cobra was fast enough to save you."

"I..." Po clenches his fists. He knows he'll dream of this tonight, and the next night, and the next. "I know, but-"

"You six." Master Cobra's tail comfortingly hangs off of Lin's shoulder as she calls to them. "Come in. We need to talk."

* * *

The hot tea does little to lessen Po's tension. Both he and Lin seem so out of place in this table, with the rest of the Furious Five and the runaway master. Two ordinary people in the middle of powerful heroes.

"Po Ping," Cobra sips her herbal tea calmly. "I knew you were kind of a moron, but I didn't think you were this stupid."

"What?" Po asks, clueless.

"Working at the Jade Palace, you numb skull." Her eye twitches with annoyance. She stares at the rest of the Furious Five. "And you five, walking around town with your chef like a bunch of teenagers on a Friday night."

"It _is_ a Friday night." Monkey mutters to himself.

"And you are not teenagers, you are Kung Fu Masters." Cobra says, as if she's explaining mathematics to a child.

"What the hell, lady?" Mantis groans loudly. "I actually thought you were cool before this lecture about discipline and stuff."

"Then you are stupid too." Cobra's hisses at him.

"Siu Wong," Lin chastises her wife with a stern look. "Don't be so rude to our guests."

"Honey, I'm always this rude." The snake complains and rolls her eyes animatedly. "And you silly bug, I don't give a flying fuck-"

"Siu!"

"-about discipline. Hell, I was always late to practice and all that, but that's not the point!" She points her tail much too close to Po's nose. "And you, do you have any idea what you just got into?"

Po leans back. "Uh, no?"

"There is a reason why masters don't have many friends outside of their fellow masters: a lot of them," She jabs her tail to Po's forehead. "End," And again. "Up." And then again. "Dead." She pauses. "Or worse."

Lin defiantly taps her foot on the floor. "Siu, sit down."

Cobra sighs and does just that. "You are a panda too. We don't see any pandas here. You will stand out a lot."

"But he's just cooking for us, why would anyone go after him?" Viper questions.

"Because you are masters." Cobra answers her. "You really think people in our line of work won't have a shit load of enemies?" Before Viper can answer, she spells it out herself. "Then you're wrong, and they will track down your parents, your friends, everyone they can get their hands on, just to get to you. We were all just a bunch of amateurs who were just playing hero before we became masters, and I'll tell you now that it changes everything." She sighs, stroking her wife's cheek with a softness that Po has never seen on the gruff woman's features. "I should know."

"There's five of us, and there's Master Shifu and Master Oogway." Crane reasons to her, his face dim. "We won't let anything happen to Po."

"And we've got Tigress!" Monkey snickers, both hands gesturing to the feline like she's the emperor's champion. "No one's gonna want to mess with _Tigress_."

"So you're saying that either you or Tigress will follow Po around the clock, coming home with him, watching over him while he sleeps?"

Tigress grunts. She didn't think about this at all.

"Exactly." Cobra grumbles when no one answers her. "The last thing he needs is some moronic muscle head thinking he's some kind of boyfriend visiting his date or something. The point is, think of something to get this knucklehead out of trouble."

Monkey snorts as he holds his hand to his mouth to stifle his laughter. "Guess we know why Tigress 'requested' him."

Mantis snickers, not even trying to hide when the tiger shoots him a murderous glare.

"Hah!" Cobra joins in the laughter. "Oh, I remember when he was just a little kid and he met this kitten in his noodle shop. He's been 'Tigress' this, 'Tigress' that ever since. Keep an eye on your stuff." She smirks at the scowling feline. "They might somehow go missing."

Po awkwardly laughs. "Uh, don't listen to her. I'm just a really, really big fan of all of you!"

"Uh, you just met us." Crane blinks.

"Yeah, but I know all about you!" Po grins, his head leaving to la-la-land. "Like, I know you beat Talon Tingxue in a one-on-one battle at your old Kung Fu academy. Viper saved her village from Iron-Armor Dang by using his inflexibility against him, Mantis overpowered-"

"Okay, that's enough, nerd boy." Cobra yawns.

Wholly unexpected to her, Lin continues Po's ramblings. "He overpowered an entire camp of bandits by meditation, Master Monkey saved the Emperor's jade ring in the Tianxi forest, and Master Tigress punched through Great-Scale Ren."

Everyone stares at the seemingly meek woman. She grins brightly, her whiskers twitching in the air as she does so.

"What? My wife is a Kung Fu Master,of course I want to know about her. I just got... um... carried away." She giggles, a little embarrassed. "But no regrets! This is awesome!"

"Yeah!" Po guffaws, high-fiving her.

"And now the question is what we're both going to do." Cobra furrows her eyebrows at her wife. "I've been found out, Lin, you're not safe with me anymore."

Lin sighs pitifully. "I... I know."

"I guess we'll have to move."

"Move?!" Po's face falls in despair. "You can't, you've both been here for ages! You love it here. The valley is your home."

"Yeah, I'd rather move than have my wife's home be a cemetery."

"We will protect her." Tigress wipes the dried blood on her knuckles on her pants. "We are also in need of a medic. I understand that Miss Wong is quite respected in the area. No harm will come to her in the Jade Palace."

"Oh, yeah?" Cobra looks unconvinced. "I'll turn you all into my rug if you're bullshitting."

Tigress' eye twitches. "I do not joke, Master Cobra. You are a valuable fighter and we would like-"

"Nah." Cobra answers casually. "No more patrols and late night emergencies for me. I'm a married woman, for spirits' sake!"

"Are you sure?" Viper seems saddened by her answer. "You're very strong."

"I'll kick some ass if I happen to be in the area." Cobra says, waving her tail absentmindedly. "Other than that, it's your job."

They spend the next hour trading stories until the small mouse can barely keep her eyes open. The wedded pair see them out, but before Po walks out, a tail wraps around his wrist.

"Don't get too close." Cobra whispers into his ear. "And Viper!" She calls to the other snake.

"Yes?"

"I can unblock that venom gland of yours, get it flowing like a nice fountain. Come over if you want it taken care of." The door is closed and she's gone.

Viper doesn't reply, and instead, she hangs her head.

"We should probably drop Po off, yeah?" Monkey casually says as they walk through the dark streets.

"Hm." Crane mumbles.

"What is it, Crane?" Viper raises an eyebrow, lowering her head to see under the avian's hat.

His wings tighten up against his torso, and he stops. The rest halt with him, and the night suddenly seems so much quieter. "Today... this night, it's the first time I've killed somebody."

Everyone is quiet, especially Po. He has no idea what to say.

"So this is our first fight as the Furious Five, huh?" Crane lowers his head. "I thought I was going to vomit earlier."

Monkey makes the first move. He steps forward, and when the bird doesn't react, he hugs him. His long, lean arms circle Crane's thin body with ease. "We're going to be brothers from now on, Crane." He says, not letting go. "Brothers and sisters, all of us."

Viper lies her head on his shoulder. "I-I'm scared." She breathes, her voice choked. "I don't want to take anyone's life."

"We had to do it." Tigress reasons. Po lightly elbows her, and she shoots him an annoyed look. "What is it, Po?"

"Hug them." Po says, answering the obvious question.

Tigress clears her throat. "Hugging is not what I do."

"Well, you hugged me earlier."

"No, I didn't. You hugged _me_." She corrects him, stepping a distance away. "Without my permission."

"Guys," Mantis looks unimpressed. "Really not the time."

"Sorry." Po mumbles, stepping forward. He envelops Viper, Monkey and Crane in his arms, warm and soft and comforting like they've never known before. "I believe in you. I believe in all of you. I know it may not mean much to you-"

"Po." Monkey stops him before he can finish. "It does mean a lot."

Po doesn't say anything after that. Instead, it's Viper who speaks. "Sorry, Po."

"Huh? What for?"

"We're supposed to be your heroes." Viper murmurs with a sigh. "We're not supposed to be like this."

"Hey, cheer up." Po says, hugging the three closer. "I get it. Everyone's scared sometimes."

Mantis clears his throat as he leans on Po's neck. "Tell you what, I'll make sure you keep on living if you make sure I keep on living too. Deal?"

"Deal."

"Deal."

"Deal."

Po nods vigorously. "Deal. Although I'll probably just be able to keep you full."

They laugh, small but hearty, until Po opens his arm for one more. Tigress doesn't need to hear his invitation—the complete warmth in his eyes when he smiles tells her enough, but she still stubbornly stands to the side.

"Come on," Po offers his arm out again. "It's nice here."

Tigress doesn't relent, at least until Crane finally shows his eyes to her. "Tigress?" He asks, his clear voice nothing if not genuine.

"Just come here, brawny." Mantis chuckles. "Team spirit and stuff, right?"

Viper flashes her a grin with her venom-less fangs. "We'll come get you if you don't come here now."

"I..." Tigress shakes her head, speechless, but she herself finds it odd when she doesn't move away when the snake keeps her words.

She feels good. She won't say it, but the heartbeats she feels, the breaths and the firm arms around her, they feel nice. It's the only way she can describe it—it's only the second time that she's ever been hugged, after all, even if she still doesn't hug them back.

* * *

No, they didn't suddenly become a super happy group of BFFs. It's just a moment shared by a couple of scared young people... remember, the Five are newly masters here!

 **As usual, thanks for reading, and I still update my stories based on how much feedback they get because I have other fanfics to work on, so I can't update them all at the same time, so please drop in if you like this story. See you next week! Or the end of this week.**


	5. Pebbles

**As usual, please leave some feedback to let me know if you are interested in this story. I only have two hands and I have other things to do too, so I'll put in my best efforts to update faster if I see a lot of people interested in reading. Thanks!**

I'm sorry for taking so long, but I promise I did this as fast as I could. I've been busy taking care of my grandpa, who just got admitted to the hospital, but I've got plenty of time now, so updates will probably be faster if things don't come up.

* * *

"Po! Wake up!"

The panda groans and his heavy eyelids lift open, showing his sleepy, jade green eyes. He smacks his lips tiredly, noting that his mouth tastes like dry sawdust. He groans as his father shakes his shoulders again, his neck far too limp to hold his head up properly, at the moment.

"Dad?" He croaks.

"Po, hurry up and get to the shower!" The goose literally pulls his son's gargantuan form from his bed, almost dragging the poor boy to the door. "Make it quick, son! No time to waste!"

"D-Dad?" Po's just beginning to shake off the sleep when Mr. Ping opens the door and shoves him through the hallway, towards the small bathroom by the man's room. "What's the hurry? It's not even time to get up yet..." He yawns.

Mr. Ping just pushes him in and shuts the door, leaving the panda both puzzled and still very, very tired.

He nearly trips twice in the bathroom, and the place is a little bit too messy for his liking, but at least he makes it out in ten minutes, fully alert after splashing himself with an obscene amount of freezing water. The sound of talking from downstairs escapes him at first, but he stops halfway down the stairs.

"It really is nice for you to do this, but my boy will be just fine." Mr. Ping chuckles, his voice accompanied by the sound of pouring tea. "I bet he'll be delighted to see you, though."

"Thank you for the tea." Comes a voice that's unmistakably from the one and only Master Tigress.

Po pinches himself to see if he's dreaming, because yesterday seemed like one. Meeting the long lost Master Cobra, who he's always thought as just a woman who runs the medicine shop, eating with the Furious Five, meeting Tigress... But if yesterday was a dream, doesn't it mean that this is reality? But if yesterday was a dream, then why is Tigress here? Is this a double dream? He pinches himself again, hard.

"Ow!" This is definitely real.

"Po?" Mr. Ping' voice rings out from downstairs. "Why are you just standing there, son? Master Tigress is waiting for you!"

At the sound of his voice, Po snaps out of his little dilemma and rushes down the stairs, nearly hitting his toe on a loose floorboard as he quickly makes his way to his father and the tiger. Tigress and Mr. Ping are both enjoying a steaming cup of tea on one of the tables. The woman seems perfectly awake, even when the sun is just rising and the streets are completely empty. He doesn't want to imagine how early the master woke up today, just to make the trip down to his shop for some reason.

"T-Tigress!"

"Yes, Po?" She takes a sip, vowing silently that she'll definitely buy this blend of jasmine tea some time.

"What are you doing here?" He asks, his hands on the table as he leans forward. He pokes her rock hard shoulder once to make sure she's really there. "I mean, it's my house and it's really early. Why are you even up? Do you even sleep?"

She figures that she'll answer him before she's bombarded by a longer flurry of questions. "Yes, I got plenty of rest last night." Is her answer. She moves back a little bit, putting a little distance between herself and the cook. "I came to bring you to the palace."

Po gasps, his head craning to see his father. "Dad, did you hear that!?"

"I did, Po." The goose smiles. He finds his son's enthusiasm endearing, especially in a cold morning like this one.

"I told Mr. Ping about last night's events." Tigress tells him, as he sits in front of her. "Master Cobra was right. We all need to take responsibility for the risk of danger you'll inevitably have to face. Therefore, we've all agreed to take you home and bring you to the palace every day."

"But I can't let you-"

Tigress stands. "We must go now, or else we'll be late."

"Oh. Okay."

The tiger passes Po on her way to the door, nodding in respect to Mr. Ping as he opens the door for her. "We will be back tonight."

"Have fun, you two!" He says, waving the two off as they walk towards the direction of the Jade Palace. "Be safe!"

"We'll be fine, dad." Po smiles at the goose as he slowly goes farther and farther.

The walk is quite uneventful at first, with Po noticing several things about the feline- her whiskers twitch ever so slightly every time she notices a small scent, and she has a habit of clenching and loosening her fists, as if she's having an imaginary tactical battle with some poor bandit who's going to be obliterated to his toes. In the tranquility of the cool morning air, Po can definitely hear a low grumble or growl from the bottom of the tiger's throat, small noises that are barely noticeable to him, even when he strains his ears to listen. These tiny things she does are sometimes accompanied by the smallest narrowing of her eyes, as if she's suddenly had an unpleasant lunch that's doing things to her stomach.

It's not until they're in the middle of the very long set of stairs to the palace that Tigress says something. "You are staring."

Po's eyes tear away from the patterns of her stripes. "Uh, sorry."

Tigress huffs. "I'm used to it."

The panda laughs it off. "Yeah, um, it's just hard to believe that you're really _here_." He says, unwittingly releasing a hard breath.

He can see that the master is obviously slowing down to wait for him to catch up. Consequently, he makes a short jog up the stone stairs to make it beside her, out of breath and legs strained like never before- except for the day before, perhaps.

"I don't see why." Tigress says, continuing her ascent. "I have noticed you around many times during my battles, watching me."

Any words Po has dies in his throat. "You noticed _me_?" His voice rises in it's pitch.

"Yes." Tigress nods to him, and a show of sheer happiness starts to take over his face. "You are the only panda in this valley, or at least the only one I know of."

The growing grin on Po's face plummets. "Oh." That's why.

He can't believe he's thinking it, but they've arrived faster than he thought. Before he knows it, they're already at the foot of the palace, and Zeng is frantically waving his arms as he runs towards them. "Master Tigress!" He stops just before he crashes into her knees. "M-Master Oogway is back."

Immediately, Tigress' eyes widen and she bolts with breakneck speed to the hall, leaving both Po and Zeng in the dust before they have any idea what's happening.

"Wait, Master Oogway was gone? I thought he was here the whole time, having some super long meditation under a waterfall..." Po scratches the back of his head. "Or something."

" _Grandmaster_ Oogway." Zeng politely corrects. "He was meeting with the other Grandmasters. They have one of those gatherings once in a while, to discuss new training regimes and the like."

"Wait, so now I can see him?" Po urgently asks. Before Zeng can answer, he runs towards the door. "Awesome!"

Zeng stretches out his hand, about to shout a warning, but the panda has gone through the door. He sighs and presses his palm to his face.

* * *

The Furious Five stand in a neat line, heads looking down in front of the two oldest masters of the Jade Palace.

Tigress' jaws are clamped shut, her fists balled tightly as Master Shifu looks up at her with a distasteful scowl. As small as he is, the displeasure practically radiates from the tension in his gaze. "I will expect no more tardiness from you, Tigress."

Tigress swallows the argument rising from her chest, bowing respectfully to the red panda. "Yes, Master Shifu."

"But she wasn't late." Monkey protests, earning himself a pointed glare. It doesn't deter the ex-troublemaker one bit. "She was just picking up Po."

"Monkey's right," Crane defends. "She was up before any of us were."

"Tigress," Master Shifu doesn't conceal the annoyance in his tone. "You are a master, not a bodyguard for some valley boy, understand? I will hear no more talk of you being late."

Viper defiantly raises her head. "With respect, Master Shifu-"

"I will hear no more from all of you." The man cuts her off, walking by each of the five to inspect them. "You are not children any longer."

Mantis frowns visibly at him. "No one even told us that we were supposed yo be here this early."

Shifu stops just before he passes the mantis, turning his head slowly to look at him. "Enough."

And then an old hand, wrinkled and experienced, lands on his shoulder. The red panda looks up at Grandmaster Oogway, the tortoise's gentle smile soothing his worn features. "Shifu."

Shifu bites back a sigh and backs away from the five. "Grandmaster Oogway."

Without warning, his staff is swung towards the side of Tigress' head with strength that's unexpected of a man of his frame. The hard wood is effortlessly blocked by a mere lift of the tiger's forearm as a loud whack echoes in the large room. Not even half a second passes before he angles a kick to the side of her body that's exposed from her blocking of his previous swing. Tigress leaps back without a hitch, landing in a crouch with her palms up and ready to strike out.

Shifu continues to observe their movements, although he already knows what Oogway plans to prove.

Viper, Crane, Monkey and Mantis all watch without moving an inch as Oogway continues to relentlessly assault the tiger. Every attack he dishes out is blocked or dodged without a single flaw, smoothly and quickly. Finally, the last swing of his staff is parried with a precision that sends it flying and finally clattering onto the floor, where it rolls slowly until it hits the foot of the door.

The door opens, sending the staff rolling into a nearby pillar. Po lumbers into the room, leaning to the doorframe as he catches his breath. Surprise shows on both Shifu and Oogway's faces as the panda pulls out a pen and paper that seemingly appears out of thin air.

"Grandmaster Oogway! Master Shifu!" He jogs halfway to them before he notices the unamused twitch of Shifu's eyebrow and the warning stares he gets from the five. "Uh... Sorry, did I interrupt something?"

Viper lightly whacks her tail to her forehead.

"I just walked into something, didn't I? I'm... Just gonna leave now." Po blushes in embarrassment and begins to turn around when a voice calls out to him.

"Po, is it?"

The cook turns around, checking if he's not mishearing things. "G-Grandmaster Oogway?"

The tortoise nods, gesturing for the young man to come over. "Yes, child. Tell me, how was your climb to the palace?"

"It. Was. _Awesome_." He says it with an increasingly loud voice. "I mean, I woke up this morning and Tigress was there, so-"

Upon hearing the words, Shifu's ears perk up. "Tigress was _where_?" He almost growls, positive he heard the panda wrong.

Tigress glares very sharp daggers at the confused cook, while Monkey and Mantis try to stifle their mischievous snickers. Viper coughs nervously into her tail while Crane tries to hide his face with his hat.

"What?" Po cluelessly blinks, shrinking away at the increasingly violent glare he's receiving from both Shifu and Tigress.

Then it clicks.

"Oh." Is all he can say. " _Oh_." He says it again. "No, no, no!" He waves his hands frantically as a mad blush creeps to his face. "I meant that I woke up and Tigress was downstairs, not... Uh, with me."

Silence. Awkward, awkward silence that's pierced by the sound of the smallest laughter escaping Monkey's mouth, even when it's sealed by his strong fingers. He coughs after that, returning to normal after he sees Shifu and Tigress look at him as if they're about to toss him in a trash can and throw him all the way down to the valley.

"Um," Po fights to arrange the words in his head before he says them out loud. "Then we walked here and talked for a bit, and... Yeah, that's it. Awesome."

Oogway smiles cryptically at Shifu. "It is not the largest sword that cuts the deepest, Shifu."

The red panda sighs tiredly. "Yes, Grandmaster. I understand."

Po pokes Crane on the shoulder and leans close to the avian. "What is he talking about?"

Crane's just about to answer when Shifu cuts him off. "Now, masters, morning training will begin. Proceed to the training room."

"Later." Crane promises, before and the others leave for the first training session of the day.

* * *

Po makes extras of everything for lunch, hoping that it's enough for everyone. If today is anything like the day before, then the five will be ravenous- especially Tigress. Po wonders how hard she trains to have to eat so much. He thinks the amount they eat is reasonable, especially since Shifu had repeatedly glared lightning bolts at him as she specifically told the panda to only serve a very light meal for the young masters before their morning training.

"Just to fill their stomachs enough." The red panda had told him.

His mind flashes back to her armor-piercing punch from last night, and his spine tingles. The crunching of leather and bone still rings in his ears. Yes, she must train extremely hard to be able to do that. He keeps that in mind as he scoops the hot, steaming rice into Oogway's bowl, noticing Shifu's absence.

"Thank you very much, Po." The old tortoise says, inhaling the scent of stir fried vegetables, hot and sour soup, and egg pancakes. His mouth waters at the sight.

"You're welcome, Grandmaster." Po politely says, before he turns to leave the room.

"Hey, Po, where are you going?" Monkey suddenly asks.

"Out?" The panda's eyes timidly flit to Oogway's direction, where the Grandmaster curiously looks back at him.

Viper feels her stomach grumble in hunger, but she holds it in. "Why? Come eat with us again."

"Yeah, is that really okay?" He nervously gulps, noticing that the only empty chair is next to Oogway. He doesn't know if he'll be able to keep his mouth shut if he does end up sitting next to him- the last thing he wants is to annoy one of the biggest legends of Kung Fu with his questions. But then again, being close to them is why he took the job in the first place. "I mean, I eat a lot and I don't wanna finish everything here..."

Po's internal battle is interrupted by a low chuckle. "Come, sit with us." Oogway amiably pats the seat next to him.

The panda squees where he stands and gleefully makes his way to sit next to the Grandmaster, soon quickly scooping up appropriately portioned food for himself. He'll just eat some more later, if there are any leftovers. They give their thanks to Po for the food, which he gladly accepts, and then they begin to eat. As usual, the five are absolutely ravenous- while Oogway eats at a normal, relaxed pace, the young masters make a bad show of trying to seem like they're not in a hurry to lick their plates off.

After they finish, Oogway calmly sips his tea as the five have their seconds, which they consume at an equally hungry pace. Po can't help but smile as he finishes his own extra meal, not knowing that Viper's jaw could stretch that big. Finally, he puts his chopsticks down with them when they're done. He could have more, but he doesn't think there will be anything left with how much Tigress is eating.

"Po, please fetch me the soup." She says, holding out an empty bowl.

"Got it." He dips the ladle into the nearly empty pot and empties the last drops of it's contents into her bowl.

"Thank you." Is the only thing she manages to say before she begins filling her stomach again.

From beside her, Monkey cradles his stomach, his eyes blissfully drooping as he watches the tiger mow down the rest of the egg rolls. A small bulge shows on his stomach, even with his built abdomen, a testament to his enjoyable morning. "Hey, we should go to the festival this weekend." He slurs, drowsy from the fullness of his belly. "We should sign Tigress up for the eating contest. I think I saw a poster for it yesterday."

At the mention of the contest, Po puffs his chest out in pride. "You're looking at the defending champion!"

"Um, no offense, Po..." Viper laughs softly. "But you don't seem to eat that much, compared to us."

"I think he's just being shy, Viper." Crane tells her. "Give it a few weeks and I think you'll see what the guy can do."

Po blinks at the avian, impressed by his guess. "How'd you know?"

Mantis scoffs jokingly. "There's no way you can cook like that and stay away from the food for long, fella!"

Crane nods. "What he said."

Tigress finally puts down her chopsticks on her perfectly cleaned bowl. "We have two hours of rest. Then, it's time for training." She says, completely ignoring the topic of the conversation.

"Yes, training." Oogway says the word fondly. "I am curious to see your skills in battle. It was unfortunate that I had to leave right after your ceremonies, as I had no chance to see you practice."

Crane visibly gulps. "Yes..."

"We will not disappoint, Grandmaster Oogway." Tigress confidently eyes her fellow masters.

"Right, you won't!" Po adds, chopping the air in front of him. "You should have seen them last night, Crane was like _shing_ -" He mimics the master's deflection. "And Viper was like _hiss_!" He whips out his fingers as if striking an imaginary enemy. "And Tigress went-"

Crane's face falls. Po freezes, recalling the surprised eyes of a man who just found out that he's going to die in battle, defeated almost effortlessly by his enemy. He goes silent, and everyone else does too.

* * *

The last of the clean dishes are put neatly back into the cupboards. Po dries his hands with an old, white towel, and puts it back next to the big pot. He still has a few hours left before he has to make dinner.

He wonders where everyone is.

He hasn't seen Zeng since this morning, and he's not nearly familiar enough with the place to go looking for the masters, but this doesn't stop him anyway. Exiting the kitchen, he makes a few turns around the unfamiliar location, straining his ears to perhaps find someone to talk to. In the midst of contemplating what to make for tonight, Po nearly passes by the door.

And by the door, he means the door to the training room, where the youngest legends of Kung Fu hone their skills in the art of fighting. He had only caught a small glimpse before he was knocked out, yesterday, and his curiosity is getting the better of him.

Maybe a little peek inside would be okay.

The door loudly creaks open and he sneaks into the room, although the pitter patters of his feet are anything but silent. He closes the large door behind him, marveling at the sight.

A set of stairs lead to platform in the shape of a rectangle upstairs, giving the people walking through a clear overhead view of the place. The room is bigger than he thought it was. There seems to be a gigantic jade bowl in the center of the room, and what seems to be a very frightening looking training course with spikes and a few other features that Po would really not like to be caught with. In the corner of the room lies what seems to be a sack full of balls, with a bow and stacks of arrows next to them. Sets of weights in different sizes are lined up on a rack, and a cute, life sized dummy harmlessly stands by it.

Po wonders what the more dubious looking items are used for, stroking his chin as he passes an empty space with a mattress, which he thinks must be used for sparring. Finally, he comes across what seems to be a log that's standing upright, with thick ropes wrapped around it.

He considers punching it, but he knows better than to break his fist.

Then he comes across a simple punching bag that hangs from a low ceiling, and he looks around. There seems to be one here but him. He grins, parting his feet into a fighting stance, and he raises his hands. He throws a punch, tensing the muscles of his whole arm, and hits the bag with a small thud.

Pain. So much pain.

A yelp escapes his throat as he clutches his fist to his stomach, turning around just for the sake of moving to distract himself from the throbbing hurt.

That's the exact moment when a solid, strong hand stops him from knocking himself into her. "Your fists are not used to punching hard objects. You should find a softer target."

He screams, at the sudden words, giving himself a small window of time to stand upright and face Master Tigress herself. "T-Tigress! How long have you been watching?"

"A while." She doesn't even bat an eye.

Po blushes, scratching his ear with his still hurting hand. He laughs awkwardly. "Well, this is awkward."

She pays no heed to his embarrassment. "Do not be. It's the process of learning." She walks past him, to the punching bag. "Your stance was too wide. It eliminates the power and penetration of your punch and it will be easy to be pushed off balance. When you punch, the power comes from the movement of your whole body, which is concentrated on your fist, where you channel the momentum to deal more damage." She enters into her own stance. "Observe."

Po's glad he didn't blink, because he would have missed it if he did- her punch is quick, and it creates a sharp crack as she hits the bag with obviously reduced power, although it still sends the bag flying around, only held in place by the chain that connects it to the hook that hangs from the ceiling. Po can see deep indentation in the bag, the very spot where Tigress' fist came into contact with whatever the bag is filled with. She strikes with her other fist, then she kicks with the heel of her foot, and then with the palm of her hand, every attack short and strong, producing satisfying sounds from the bag.

"Awesome." He breathes. "So, what's the bag filled with?"

"Pebbles."

"No wonder it was so hard." Po shakes his hand in pain.

"I am telling you this because you could have gotten hurt yesterday, and as a master and your employer, I cannot let that happen." She crosses her arms. "It would be good if you considered carrying a small weapon, or if you learned how to fig-"

"You're going to teach me Kung Fu?!" He beams, his hands suddenly clinging tightly to the tiger's hefty biceps.

Tigress coughs uncomfortably as the panda says- no, more like shouts it into her face. "Yes, but keep in mind that if I see you blathering around like a fool, thinking that knowing how to do a side kick gives you the right to act like an idiot, I will not speak another word of Kung Fu to you again." She says, sternly poking his chest, with his fingers still around her arms.

"Got it!" Po hops in place for a few seconds as he squeals. "I can't believe you're going to teach me Kung Fu!" He squeals a long one that makes the corner of Tigress' brow twitch. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!" He nearly sprays bits of spittle on her.

Tigress' awkward attempt to walk out of his range comes too late, as he sweeps her into a crushing hug that lifts her off her feet. He lightly swings her around like a child plays with a doll, grunting when he realizes that she's much heavier than she looks. Again, she knows she can push him off easily, but she doesn't know why she doesn't. Like all his previous hugs, the panda is soft and warm like a blanket on a cold winter. His rapid, excited heartbeats can be felt right on her own chest, while his heavy breaths thread through the fur of her neck.

It feels nice to be appreciated, for once. She still doesn't hug him back, but she can't believe she's saying this: "You're welcome, Po."

He still doesn't let her go. If anything, he simply pulls her closer and nuzzles into her cheek like the enthusiastic fanboy he is.

"Po." She says, after a few more seconds of being suspended in the air.

"Yeah?"

"You can put me down now." She says, only because she doesn't feel like shoving him off.

The door opens just as Tigress cranes her neck to see just who it is who's seeing her like this. Her jaw drops.

"Oooh," Monkey wiggles his eyebrows suggestively. "What's going on here?"

* * *

Yes, folks, it's Grandmaster. This will be of some importance later.

 **As usual, please leave some feedback to let me know if you are interested in this story. I only have two hands and I have other things to do too, so I'll put in my best efforts to update faster if I see a lot of people interested in reading. Thanks!**


	6. Obligatory Scene With Cliche Bandages

Oogway's face is calm and collected, as usual. "It is very nice to see you again, little snapper." He chuckles and eyes down the cobra before him, a nostalgic smile tugging on his lips. "Although I honestly cannot call you little any longer."

"Thank you, Grandmaster." Cobra says, the gratitude showing on the sheer relief in her face. "I don't know how long I'm going to be gone to hunt down the rest of those assholes, but I'll come back as soon as I can."

Oogway nods, noting Lin's slender fingers clasping tighter around her lover. "I need not remind you to be vigilant, for I know you already are. Do you remember what I told you, all those years ago?"

"Patience is bitter, but it's fruit is sweet." Cobra repeats, the words fresh in her mind.

"Good." Oogway steps forward, placing a hand on the cobra. A swirl of feelings flash through his eyes, of pride and sorrow and affection. "I am confident in your victory."

Cobra respectfully bows to the grandmaster before she turns to the petite mouse by her side. "I'll be back before you know it, love." She says, her voice soft like Po has never heard before. "Then you'll be safe, and we won't have to hide anymore. I promise."

Lin hugs her as tight as her arms allow. The snake's body is neither warm nor soft, but she's learned to love the cold, smooth scales a long time ago. "Please come back to me. If it's impossible for you to hunt them all down, just... Come back. It's okay, I'm fine with people not knowing who you are. I'm okay with having to look over my shoulder all the time."

Cobra shakes her head, sighing as she kisses her wife's forehead for the last time this season, or perhaps this year, or more. Who knows? "You deserve better." Is all she says, and she turns around. "Stop staring, Po."

Po stands awkwardly beside one of the pillars. "Uh, I didn't mean to spy on you. I was just trying to go to the forest behind the palace and I kind of got... Lost." He blushes a little.

"It's through the door there." Cobra points with her tail. "Take a left, then go straight to the gardens. Don't stop until you see the ironwood trees." She says, her memory still fresh. She hasn't visited the Palace in a long time, but the short time she spent there is still close to her heart.

"Thanks." He says, but his mind is obviously somewhere else. "Where are you going?"

"Tying up loose ends." She tells him, a steely determination in her golden eyes. She wistfully looks back at her wife, who smiles sadly at her. "Can't call myself a proper woman if I let people do this to my wife."

"We'll all be okay here." He reassures her. "We've got seven masters, right? The Furious Five is the brightest of the generation! No one's going to stand a chance."

"I hope, especially with that hellcat prowling around." Cobra smirks, before she rudely pokes the panda in the nose. "Look, kid, I've known you for a fucking long time, so I know you're gonna do something completely moronic." She angles her head closer to his. "Do _not_ take a master out to dinner, 'cause it'll never just end there."

He gulps.

"Don't you fucking try to do the same thing we did." She slithers by before Po can reply, and then she's by the door. She casts one more look for Lin, full of promise and drive, a drive that Oogway hasn't seen since in years, and then she's gone.

He politely excuses himself so he can go and find Tigress, offering to make Lin dinner after she takes care of her new duty as the Jade Palace's medicine woman. As per Cobra's instructions, he takes a left, and goes straight. He goes past the gardens until he steps into the shadows under the canopy of leaves. He has arrived in the Ironwood Forest, as the residents of the palace like to call it. The place is packed with trees, thick and strong like none other. Even before evening, the forest is dark like those of old folktales and stories of ghosts and spirits.

Po doubts he can find Tigress in this light, until he strains his ear and hears something that really can't be: thud, thud, thud. He clutches the roll of bandages and herbal something close to his chest, the ones Viper had told him to bring. Leaves rustle in the air, and all the panda thinks is how it's impossible that this is happening, but he finds out soon enough that it is indeed possible—there, in the distance, a tiger pounds away at one of the trees. As he slowly approaches, he can see no wincing on her face, nothing to show pain. The sounds she makes are vicious, loud and sharp against the notoriously hard bark of the tree, and just from that alone, Po can tell that she's not holding back.

Stray leaves glide down as the tree shakes with every punch. In the dim light, the visible glow of the tangerine pupils of the tiger only further illuminate the killing intent on her face, a frozen expression that doesn't break until now.

She grits her teeth as the pained grimace forces her to flash her sharp fangs, but she continues to punch with full power. She doesn't even stop for a second, despite the growing wince on her face that seems to expand with every hard thud of her fists against the tree.

Predictably, he's speechless. How she moves is like a dance of deadly force, every muscle in her trained body straining in tandem to wreak absolute havoc to whatever or whoever is unfortunate enough to meet her in battle. The slight snarl on her lips aim to drive away the pain she feels in her bones, persistent and unrelenting.

Suddenly, she stops. Without looking behind her, she knows who's standing there, the heavy footsteps telling her more than enough. "You are staring again."

Po's heart jumps into his throat at the sudden observation. "Sorry. Am I bothering you?"

"No. I have just finished." She places her palm on the tree, still standing strong despite the abuse it suffered by her hands. The bark has splintered and slightly caved in places, but it's still not broken. She unsheathes her obsidian claws, long and curved. The faint sunlight that manages to make it through the thick covering of trees bounces off the sharp points and leaves a gleam that's far too beautiful for an instrument of death to ever have.

She presses down and rakes them down the length of the wood, cutting deep lines into the bark before she pulls away. She blows lightly on her claws to get rid of the layer of dust and splinters of wood before they disappear into her fingers once more.

Po gulps when he sees just how deep her claws went.

Tigress tightens her jaw upon hearing him take a step back, finally looking at the panda. "I am not angry." She says, her voice not very reassuring. "I was simply checking if it's time to sharpen my claws."

Po laughs sheepishly. "I guess you've got a long time before you gotta do that."

"Why have you come?" She asks, her thumb grazing the wood of the tree. She will make it fall, one day, she really will.

"Well, you looked pretty mad earlier..." Pretty mad is an understatement, given that the tiger had punched a hole in the wall when she was chasing a very afraid monkey around the training hall. Po is sure she only stopped because Oogway was watching. "I just wanted to see if you're still angry?"

Tigress herself knows she's not angry. In fact, she's very far from angry. That was the first problem Shifu took care of, before the Tai Lung incident left him like _this_. She doesn't want to think about it.

She's embarrassed. No one has ever dared to tease the infamously intimidating woman, until Monkey came along and did just that—perhaps himself being a master had chipped off the illusion that she's too untouchable to be bothered to be friends with.

'Friends'. What an odd word.

Has she spent this long fighting and doing nothing else? She can't even carry on a conversation that would be considered absolutely normal to everyone else.

"No, I am not."

Po coughs. "He also said he's going to apologize for the eloping jokes... and the one where he said you'd end up like Master Cobra, the one where you'll have to change your name to-" He sees her staring. "Never mind." He quickly finishes.

It's odd for her to even think of saying sorry. "Then I should apologize as well. I was out of line." _If Master Shifu hears about this..._ "Let's leave."

Po nods. Tigress almost walks by him, at least before he smells something coppery and dirty in the wind. He looks down. "Tigress, you're bleeding!"

She grumbles in annoyance when the panda takes her hand and inspects her knuckles, like he did a few days ago. They're quite raw and little scratches mar the bruised surface of her callouses, and the tiger frankly doesn't know why Po is making such a big deal about it. Injuries aren't too rare amongst masters.

"I know. It happens." She walks towards a direction that definitely doesn't lead back to the palace. "I suppose that's why you're carrying bandages."

"Viper said you'd want them. Where are you going?" Po blinks. "The palace is that way." He juts his thumb to the other direction.

"A stream nearby." She doesn't pause to wait for him. "I'm going to wash my fists before they get infected."

"Oh, duh."

Po doesn't know it, but Tigress periodically checks if he's with her or falling behind, slowing down appropriately when she hears him curse under his breath at the feeling of a stray pebble digging onto the soles of his feet. She doesn't try to make small talk, nor does she ever look back at him.

"So... Master Cobra came by."

Tigress' ears perk up in interest. "What for?" She highly doubts that she'd show up after all her years of hiding, especially to the Jade Palace, of all places.

"She's going to leave for a while. She said she wanted to 'tie up loose ends'." Po doesn't think he needs to elaborate on what she means by that. He sighs sadly. "I'm going to miss her, though... it's going to be really quiet without her yelling at me in the shop."

"It is the least she should do." Tigress replies, brushing aside a branch that would otherwide smack into her face. "She shouldn't have gone dallying off in the first place. A master puts their duty above all else."

"I guess you're right..." Po stays quiet for a bit, as if locked in an internal conflict. "I know, but I guess it _is_ pretty sweet that she's doing it for her wife."

"It is not." Tigress refutes, huffing. "She put her wife in danger by publicly being in a relationship with her. It's not sweet, it's an obligation to keep a third party from getting hurt."

He ponders if he should ask her this. "Do you really think so?"

She raises an eyebrow. "Of course, I do. Masters have surrendered their lives to defending the people. There's no use for things like that."

"Thing like what?" He asks, without delay.

Tigress sighs. "Things like... mingling, relationships. They only distract us from our true purpose."

"But you masters are people too, not living weapons made to fight until you break." He reasons.

"But we _are_ ," Tigress refutes his point easily. "This is why there are so few masters in the world. So many refuse to give up comfortable beds and friendship, love and freedom. The people revere us for our prowess in battle, but we revere each other for the sacrifices we have to make."

He falls silent. "I... I've never thought about that before."

"Few people have." She says, in a somewhat softer tone.

"I guess I'll just have to get stronger, then."

She narrows her eyes at the statement. "What do you mean?"

"You're going to teach me Kung Fu, right? I'm not that dumb, I know it's going to take years and years for me to be good, but I'm going to try as hard as I can." He smiles at her with reckless abandon. "I'll get stronger so you won't have to worry about me, so no one can use me to get to you."

Tigress just about sputters at his display, not at him, but at herself. She should be annoyed or even outright outraged by how lightly he's taking her duties, but she isn't. "I... I..." She can't seem to find anything to say. "Are you _serious_?" She balks.

Po's grin completely shuts down at her response. "Uh, did I say something to make you mad?"

She shakes her head. "What? No." A normal response to a lot of the things she says, and yet he's still willing to stay with her? "I... I'm just surprised, that's all." She looks away from him hastily.

"At what?" He breathes in relief.

" _You_." She's being an idiot, and she knows it. There's no guarantee that he'll keep his word, anyway. Plenty of people drop out once the discipline is too much.

He scratches the back of his head. "In a good way or in a bad way?"

She can't believe it, but she smiles at him. It's small, fleeting, and quick, nothing like the panda's own ear-to-ear grins, but it's still a smile. "I guess we'll have to see about that, won't we?"

Po has to rub his eyes to believe what he's seeing. It was just a quarter of a second, but the steel in her gaze lifts for a bit as the corner of her lips rise ever so slightly. Her tangerine eyes light up for a moment, a contrast to the darker orange of her fur and the inky black lines that streak through her fur like dark shadows.

Shit, she looks beautiful.

"I won't let you down, Tigress." He completely means what he's saying, because he will see that smile again and nothing is going to stop him.

* * *

"Does this happen often?"

"What do you mean?"

He clears his throat. "Masters and stuff like what happened with Master Cobra..."

"I... I admit that I know very little about other masters' personal lives." She hears rushing waters. They're close. "I am not one for idle gossip. You may want to ask the others. I overheard them talking about this very subject, last night."

Po's eyes light up, the cook completely ignoring that he had just nearly tripped on a branch and rolled downhill into the bushes."What did they say?"

Tigress sighs. She'll answer, just so he won't pester her about it again, because she knows he'll definitely do it. "No." She imagines his face falling. "That is the official answer. The unofficial answer is yes, relationships between masters do happen and are often scrutinized, should they become public. For this reason, Crane and Mantis speculate that they happen much more than most think they do, but secretly."

"No way. No, yes way!" Tigress just knows that he's probably doing a little victory jig behind her. "Do you know about Master Panther and Master Raging Boar? I ship them so much!"

Tigress sighs. She doesn't know what 'ship' means, but she doesn't want to know. She quickly tunes out all of Po's rambling of how strong and serious Master Panther shows only her soft side to the charming and witty Master Raging Boar. She contemplates leaving him behind when he starts talking about how they should get married, but she realizes that it's too late—they've already arrived at the stream.

She kneels down by the rocks and dips both her hands into the cool, fresh water. She almost sighs in pleasure as the grime and dirt is washed from her hands. The heat and blood on her knuckles are soothed with the clear rivulets, and Tigress' tense muscles finally relax—until Po starts talking again.

"So... do you ship any of your master friends?"

Curiosity gets the better of her. Tigress decides to prod, although she knows she'll regret it later. "I suppose you don't mean sending them across the sea on a literal ship."

"Oh, I forgot that people outside of the fan club don't really know what it means." Po unrolls the bandages, careful to place them away from the wet rocks. "If you ship something, it means you like a romantic relationship between people."

Tigress gives him a look, for a moment losing her ability to speak. "Fan club?"

"Yeah." Po grins widely, absolutely not put down by her reaction.

"Fan clubs for... Masters?" Tigress asks again, this time deliberately showing the disbelief in her voice.

"Yeah, we tried to get a look at the Furious Five's ceremony, but the guards said it was private." Po sighs, holding out his hand.

"What are you doing?"

"Bandaging your hands." He plainly answers.

"I know that." She says, the irritation in her voice giving way to curiosity. "But why?"

He chuckles brightly, holding his hand further towards her. "Do I need a reason?"

Tigress looks away from him, an indiscernible look on her as she contemplates the question. "I suppose not." She mutters after a brief moment.

His hands are big and so, so gentle. The touch is foreign to her, the warrior who has only known to attack and defend, block and counter, for as long as she can remember. He carefully tends to the raw skin of her knuckles, softly dabbing on the salve. It stings, but she doesn't care one bit. She hates to even admit it to herself, but she tenses at the unfamiliar strokes of his thumb on the back of her hands as he makes sure to neatly wrap the bandages around her.

He stays outwardly calm, even when he's holding the hand that's the stuff of stories, and soon, legends. He takes everything in, from the rough pads of her paws to She has always taken care of her injuries by herself, until now. Even little Tigress stitched her cuts up alone, ever since she learned how.

"Tigress?"

She mentally berates herself for zoning out, or rather, the voice of Master Shifu in the back of her head does. "Ah, of course." She says, once she sees her perfectly wrapped right hand. She experimentally makes a fist with it. The bandages tighten, but they don't break. "Thank you."

He holds out his hand again, and she reluctantly offers him her left one. "You're welcome." He chuckles, scooting in a little closer to properly reach the wounded knuckle.

Tigress is not pleasantly surprised when she doesn't move away, for once.

"Does it hurt?"

"It will fade." Tigress answers. "Pain is weakness leaving the body."

Po whistles as he ties the last knot on the her bandages. "That's pretty darn hardcore. But really, does it hurt?"

It bothers her to say it out loud. "A bit. It used to hurt more."

He lightly pats her hand to let her know he's done. "How long have you been doing this?"

"Almost twenty years." She balls her bandaged hand into a fist, staring at it intently. "Soon, I will feel nothing." She stands. Tigress makes sure to step onto the dry grass before she raises both her palm towards him. "Remember what I said the other day. Hit me."

Po reluctantly raises his arms, making sure to not spread his feet too far apart. "But won't your hands hurt?"

"My knuckles are hurt, not my palms."

He nods. "Here goes nothing..." He throws his entire weight behind the punch, tensing all the muscles in his body into it. A small noise escapes as his fist slams into her hand, but it doesn't seem like she's affected by it at all.

The panda can feel his own knuckles rattling in their sockets. The puzzled look on Tigress' face intensifies when he doesn't move, although his fist remains attached to her palm. His face opens wide in a silent scream as a small breath escapes him. Po inhales deeply before he drops to the ground and _screams_ with all the air in his lungs.

Tigress has no choice but to dumbly watch as he cries out so loud that Mantis, all the way back in the Jade Palace, strains his ears at the noise.

"What the hell was that?" He asks Crane, who's lounging peacefully under a tree.

"What?"

"That noise."

"I didn't hear anything."

Mantis shrugs. "Guess it's time to clean out my ears."

* * *

Okay, I realize that I haven't exactly gone in depth with why Po is such a huge fan, etc, etc. All in due time, folks. Also, don't hesitate to tell me if you'd like to request scenarios that may be written into the next chapter.

 **As usual, please let me know if you're reading this so I'll stop being a lazy ass and write faster. I only have two hands, two ongoing fanfics, college preparation and athlete stuff, so maybe a little something in the review box will motivate me ;).**

 **Thanks for reading!**


	7. Well, Shit

I hate writer's block.

* * *

 _He walks into the room, only the sound of his breathing to accompany him. Tigress is silent as usual, her back facing his. Without having to check who's there, she asks him one question: "Are you ready?"_

 _Three simple words, but it's the beginning of many things to come. He's somehow gotten lucky enough to have her want to do this, he can't mess it up. He swallows all the gleeful noises from the bottom of his stomach. "Yes. Please teach me."_

" _Then let us begin." She faces him, her feet firm on the ground. "Let's begin with your stance."_

The training hall is silent save for the persistent panting of one Po Ping. Tigress silently watches him as he swings away at the air, making mental notes on what to fix. "You're unbalanced, Po." She reminds him again. Po nods, his chest heaving hard, and suddenly the tiger is in front of him. Without warning, she gives him a lackluster shove that sends him facing the ceiling. He sticks out his hands to brace his fall, but before he even touches the ground, a well placed arm on his back stops him. The hand pushes him up, and his feet are on the ground again. "Hitting heavily is not possible when only your arm is working while your core and legs are not. It's also completely useless if one counterattack sends you off your feet. Do it again."

"Got it." He gives her a hearty salute.

He's still slow and his punches could be deflected with the wave of a hand, but Tigress commends his enthusiasm. She's not impressed yet, though—many newcomers are enthusiastic, at least before they quit out of softness. Or before their teacher kicks them out because of their unfounded arrogance. "I caught you because you could hurt yourself while falling like that." She says, after a period of silence. "I will teach you to land on your feet no matter what, once your form is correct. It's dangerous to be knocked down."

The door opens, giving way the sound of chatter that always seems to accompany the other four members of the Furious Five.

"Alright, you're done." Tigress gives him a nod. "The bath isn't too far from our quarters. Just take a left once you see the ming vase."

"Okay. See you after you're finished." He turns and leaves, wondering what to make for dinner. Tofu stir fry, maybe? He'd have to be quick and clean himself if he wants to make the food on time.

"Hey, Po." Mantis greets, bouncing towards the panda. "What are you doing here?"

Po rolls his shoulders tiredly, having a feeling that they're going to really hurt tomorrow morning. "Just finished getting some Kung Fu lessons."

He remembers that there was no one here before them other than Po and Tigress, but that can't be. "Um, from who?" He asks, just to be sure.

"Tigress." Po's face cracks into an enormous grin. "She shoved me and I fell!"

"This is the first time I've seen anyone happy about being shoved down." Crane adds.

"Of course!" Po says it as if it should be more than obvious. "It's Tigress."

The four start an exchange of looks, but they know better than to say something while Tigress is there watching them. That's when it hits them."Wait a minute," Monkey pauses. " _Tigress_ is teaching you _Kung Fu_?"

"Yes, Monkey." Tigress crosses her arms. "Is there an issue with that?"

"N-No." Monkey smiles stiffly. He knows better than to try and make a joke out of the situation again. Yes, the joke that led him down a death chase was juvenile, but he had to be, with a job that's the picture of serious.

"What happened the other day could have gone worse. I intend to help Po with Kung Fu so that it won't happen again." Tigress explains, narrowing her eyes suspiciously when she doesn't even hear a mischievous snicker from him. "He is put in danger by being around us, after all."

"Anyway, I've got to go now." Po waves as he makes his way out of the door. "I'm gonna bathe and make dinner."

At least, that's what he had planned on doing.

Soon after the five bid their goodbyes, he finds himself wandering without a clear objective or knowledge as to where he is. He groans. He's lost again and this is getting embarrassing. He decides to keep walking at a fairly quick pace. Sooner or later, he's bound to run into someone who can give him directions. Thoughts pass through his head like clouds in the sky. Should he use noodles or rice to make the stir fry? He contemplates for a moment before he figures that using rice is the way to go. He made noodle soup yesterday, so it would be nice to vary things some more.

Also, Tigress taught him Kung Fu.

 _Tigress taught him Kung Fu._

He can just remember her watching him move, the analytical gaze from her when she stroked her chin and looked for flaws that may be just about everywhere, but it doesn't change the fact that he's studying Kung Fu under a hero. He absentmindedly wanders the halls, releasing light punches into the air, imagining the piles of crooks brought down by the legendary Master Panda. In his fantasy, he passes rooms and makes turns until he finally realizes that he still has no idea where he is, but that's not why he's panicking.

He's panicking because he's absolutely sure that he's not supposed to be here, because lines of very old looking weapons and artifacts line the length of the hall, items he'd be very glad to examine in very close detail if they caught his attention. The reality is that his attention is wholly piqued by the iridescent pool in the middle of the room that seems to radiate a soft blue glow that's almost otherworldly in nature. The roof is unlike that of any other room in the Jade Palace. A golden dragon circles like a creature from the old legends, claws sharp and eyes open and alert. They seem to be all-seeing, watching over like a sacred guardian.

Of course, that's exactly why it's ironic, because an owl that Po has never seen before is sliding something from between the dragon's teeth. First, he considers sneaking back and telling the five so they can beat up this probably-a-thief who's stealing something that's probably very valuable since someone actually went through the trouble of putting whatever it is all the way up there. And then he remembers that he has no idea how to get back to the training hall, or how to get anywhere.

It doesn't matter, because the owl is looking straight at him with her piercing blue eyes. A smile is etched on her face like it's always been there from the day she was born. Even the beat of her wings are completely silent as her sharp talons tightly clutch the Dragon Scroll.

Well, fuck. Shit. Crap.

"Well, well, well." Her voice is sickly sweet, drawing out each vowel with a coldness that sends a chill down Po's spine. The echoes of her voice carry throughout the entire hall as she goes nearer and nearer to him, still with that smile on her face. She moves until she's just high enough to be out of reach from the cook's grasp. "What have we here?"

Po can't think of anything other than how he should run from anyone who spouts the typical villain greeting, so he does. He turns around and runs as fast as he can towards the door, nearly tripping over his own feet. A booming laugh thunders as his feet lifts the ground, a pulling force lifting him by the back of his pants.

"You're no member of the Furious Five." The owl says from behind him, clearly amused. "Cleaning staff? No, you smell like soup and eggs. Cook?"

He doesn't dare answer her question. "W-Who are you?" His attempt at sounding brave, or at least defiant, falters at the first stutter of his words.

"It doesn't matter." The owl chuckles, before she tosses him aside with such force that sends him flying before his bottom touches the ground, sliding with a loud squeak before he stops against the edge of the pool. Po gulps. She smirks. "I won't hurt you, boy. I'm just here to send a message to take this blight away." She slightly raises the scroll, glinting like gold in the light reflected by the pool.

"Why?" He breathes, pressing himself closer to the edge as the owl approaches.

"Tell Shifu it's for his own good." She shrugs. "I told him this bullshit was a terrible idea, and he ignored me. Look at what happened to his 'son'."

Po swallows thickly. "Tai Lung."

"Of course you know." The owl laughs with a pitiful shake of her head. "Everyone knows, and all because of this horrible idea the old turtle made, and look how many lives it ruined."

"What are you talking about?" Po shudders when he finds himself against the pool, nowhere else to go.

"No one told you. How very unsurprising." She scowls, swooping forward. She takes his face between her wings, sticking her face much too closely to the young man's. He holds his breath as his lips seal shut, his heartbeat rocketing like a firework. "Tai Lung is not the first one. He is just the only one that the public knows of."

Not the first one?

"But I didn't give you a supervillain speech just for show," He's unpleasantly surprised that the owl can guess exactly what he's thinking. "I want you to tell Shifu and the old man this: Fenghuang says hello, and she won't let them do this to anyone else again." With that, she delivers a hard blow somewhere to his face. He can't tell, because he blacks out the moment the impact hits. All he feels afterwards is how cold the water is.

* * *

Po shivers, even with the warm towel wrapped around him. It's not because he's cold, though—the water was cold, but not that cold. He's shivering because Master Shifu is looking down at him with the truest embodiment of vice, disappointment, and anger.

"Fenghuang?" He speaks the name slowly, walking towards the panda ominously slowly. "Are you sure?"

Frantically nodding, Po pulls the towel tighter around himself. For the second time today, he finds himself unable to say anything.

"Who is she, Po?" Crane asks, stroking his back soothingly. "Can you describe her for us?"

His fur stands on edge. "Blue eyes, darker blue and white feathers."

Crane doesn't seem to have his curiosity satisfied. "That fits the description of a lot of owls, Po. Is there anything else that you remember?"

"She had this creepy voice, like she knows I was exactly where she wanted." He knows it probably won't help. "She was strong." He emphasizes, a slight tremor to his voice in the end. "She picked me up and threw me across the room like it was easy."

"That sounds like Fenghuang." Shifu frowns, the wrinkles on his forehead tightening. "She's supposed to be in prison."

."Who is she, though?" Viper asks, a little impatient. "I've never heard of her."

Oogway steps in when all Shifu does is frown at the snake, putting a hand on the red panda's shoulder. "Fenghuang is the only one who has ever figured out the secret of the Dragon Scroll." He tells them, his usual knowing smile still upright.

The name rings in Po's head. He knows that name. "The Dragon Scroll?" He repeats, the words almost mystical in his mouth. "The artifact that can grant limitless power and wisdom, or make one plunge into the deepest darkness. It's said that only the Dragon Warrior can figure out the secret of the scroll." He recites perfectly. "It was _here_?" Any awe that would have been there is replaced by astonishment and horror.

"As it has always been." Oogway taps his staff lightly on the floor.

"We don't let the public know, for obvious reasons." Shifu grumbles crossly. "Preventing incidents like this is one of them."

"And she already knows the secret." Tigress frowns deeply.

Oogway nods. "And she has found the deepest darkness."

"Then why does she want the scroll?" She narrows her eyes in contemplation.

Shifu falls to silence. "That is something I do not know."

"She said one more thing to me." Po feels all of their eyes on him, hanging on to every word. "She said she wouldn't let this happen to anyone else again."

That's not the words Monkey expected. "What did she mean?"

Shifu sneers. "She read the scroll, and she didn't become the Dragon Warrior. That's all you need to know."

In other words, 'shut up and do your job because I'm hiding something'. Monkey rolls his eyes. Tigress grudgingly restrains herself from asking anything more. Oogway chuckles, and Shifu's tongue has to restrain itself from lashing out for his very unnecessary intervention. "The Scroll is a powerful object. Every reader sees something different, they only lead to two paths- light and darkness."

It's obvious which one Fenghuang saw. "You must find her before she disappears again." Shifu urges. "I will take up your duties while you are gone. It will be difficult to track her down. She leaves little tracks and the ones she does leave are made to either throw you off or lead you to a trap."

"There are five of us." Tigress confidently steps forward. "We are masters, we don't fail."

Shifu's face is gloomy. "She... Fenghuang was a master too. One of the original members of the previous Furious Five, and the best."

The implications send a knot to Po's stomach. "But you were in the previous Furious Five. Master Red Panda."

He'd rather not remember those days. "Exactly."

* * *

I am so, so sorry. Writer's block is crap.


	8. The Start

**I'm overwhelmed by how awesome this story's readers are. Alright, this marks the start of the journey. Here comes the campires and cold nights!**

* * *

Po can't do anything but watch each opened door of the masters' quarters, sounds of rummaging coming from each. Before long, Mantis exits his room, soon followed by Viper, Monkey, Crane, and finally Tigress, each carrying varying sizes of packs on their backs. It takes a while for him to realize that they're all waiting for him.

He doesn't have anything on him.

"Uh... why are you all looking at me like that?"

"You'll have to go with us." Tigress says, her certainty speaking volumes of how she doesn't even consider asking him if he actually plans to go along with them.

Po's face quickly goes to shoked from incredulous. " _What?_ "

"You said it yourself," Monkey hikes his bag higher. "You'd know her if you saw her, but she doesn't really have a weird birthmark or evil red eyes to clue us in. You can help us identify her."

"And save us from my cooking." Mantis quietly adds.

Po's face is still locked in disbelief. "Are you all serious? I'm going out to get a real life villain with you?"

Tigress snarls in annoyance, passing him without even looking the panda in the eye. "We have no time, we can talk on the way to your house."

Much to Po's chagrin, the other four follow without question, walking at a pace that would be close to a jog for him. When Crane leaves the door open for him after the avian steps out, he knows he has to hurry. With a gulp, Po follows suit, catching up to them after a short run. "Wait a minute, where are we even going to look for her?"

"There are only two ways that she can escape. Either she flies and someone sees her doing it, or she goes on foot through the town." Crane explains. "The second option is highly unlikely."

"Why?"

"Because it would make her slower." Viper patiently elaborates. "She'd have to get down the thousand steps in plain view, risking getting caught by us, and then she'd have to get through town, where there are a lot people who'll point us her way. I'd say that the guards would be an additional challenge, but..."

Mantis continues her sentence. "But they'd just be annoying."

Viper grimly nods.

Po has a feeling his question is a stupid one. "Is she really that strong?"

"Are you serious?" Monkey looks back at him. "Every master knows about Fenghuang."

"I thought Viper said she'd never heard of her."

Even as the door opens and the bright sun illuminates the masters' faces, their expressions don't change. The five look almost otherworldly in the light—Tigress' orange burns like fire, her stripes like the darkest warpaint. Viper's scales glint a striking emerald, while the clear white of Crane's feathers glow softly under the glare of the sun. The gold of Monkey's fur rolls as he moves like a morning fog, and Mantis' emerald carapace is bright as he rides on the monkey's shoulder.

They really do fit the description of a team of heroes. Po almost—no, he really does feel self conscious as he trails behind them, stumbling on the stairs in a painful contrast to their eased strides.

"Oh, we knew about her, alright." Monkey whistles. "Just not her name. In the stories, she's Master Owl."

Po can't think of any Master Owl. "I've never heard of her. Weird." He's heard even the most obscure tales of masters, knows every legend like it's his own, but he really doesn't know who she is.

"The story isn't well known outside of the masters' community." Viper shiftily looks around. "The Council of Grandmasters don't like it when stories like this get out."

Tigress hopes she can explain thoroughly so he'll stop distracting her. "Master Owl was a legendary member of the previous Furious Five. She was cunning, intelligent, strong. Everything a master should be. The Five never has leaders. It's never the way we worked, but that's who she was to her teammates."

"Right." Crane coughs."Stories say she was the poster child of the entire Council. There was even talk of her becoming a Grandmaster after she's done with the Furious Five."

"And then?" He picks up his pace to walk next to her, curious.

"The Dragon Warrior festival." Tigress speaks the name like it's a funeral instead. "Each member of the Furious Five was called forward, each with the opportunity to read the scroll. One by one, they came, but they left disappointed. They saw nothing."

"But Master Owl did." Monkey interjects.

The logic doesn't fall flat on Po's reasoning. "Then... doesn't that make _her_ the Dragon Warrior?"

No one answers him. Po shrinks, biting his tongue when he catches the looks on their faces: uncertainty, doubt. "Honestly, that's what I asked too." Mantis says, after a period of uncharacteristic silence.

"The Grandmasters denied it, though." Monkey says, although the hesitation in his voice is clear enough.

More silence. "There's something else she told me." Po blurts, after looking around. "I didn't know if I should've said it in front of Master Shifu and Grandmaster Oogway."

Tigress' ears immediately perk up. "What is it? Can it help us locate her?"

"Well, no." The spark of interest in her eyes fizzle out, and the ever present frown on her face comes flying back. "But even though she gave me the typical villain speech, she didn't really _seem_ like a villain, you know?"

Viper would raise her eyebrow, if she had one. "What do you mean?"

"It's like she believes what she's doing is right." Po holds back his words, trying to find the right ones.

 _Villain_. Typical stuff of legends. "Of course she does," Tigress puts it blandly. "That's why she's doing this."

"But that's not it." Po's words peak her interest, although she doesn't show it. "She didn't really go into detail with it, but she _hated_ the Grandmaster and Master Shifu. She kinda made it sound like they did something to her instead of the other way around."

"Impossible." Tigress immediately dismisses, without even considering the idea.

"Um, Po," Viper seems hesitant to say it. "Do you know why Fenghuang was stripped of her title?"

"Nope."

"Then you have to know that being stripped of their title is a master's greatest disgrace."

Po nods, glad that he finally knows _something_. "A master gives up their birth name to become an avatar of discipline and duty. It's a lifelong commitment. To have their title revoked by the Council is to say that the master is no longer worthy of their name." He recites.

"Fenghuang was exiled because she killed a Grandmaster." Tigress wastes no time in getting to the point.

" _What?!_ "

"She lured Grandmaster Gliding Swallow out somewhere and just offed him." Monkey uneasily takes a deep breath. "Details are shaky, but she did it, alright."

Po can see the masters tense more with every question, but he doesn't back down. "But there's got to be more than that."

"It doesn't matter." Tigress' response is blunt. "We are not investigators, Po. We are fighters. We track down and bring people in or eliminate them if necessary. We do not concern ourselves with hows or whys."

"That's really harsh, Tigress." Crane awkwardly coughs, looking at the panda sympathetically. "She's right. I know it seems uncompromising, but that's justice."

"But what if it's not the whole story?" Po can see Tigress' whiskers twitch in annoyance, and he gulps before he lowers his voice. "Uh, maybe she could be some kind of antihero..." His voice trails off when Tigress's frown deepens, specifically at him.

The tiger seems almost relieved when he stops talking, but maybe Po is just imagining it. "She stole the dragon scroll. The Dragon Warrior festival is coming in two months. We have to find that scroll and take it back, no buts." And she _will_ read it, and she _will_ find out it's secret. Her eyes darken. The edge of her fang is visible through her deep scowl. "If she wants mercy, then she should have never taken it in the first place."

She sounds final.

At that, Po doesn't ask any more questions.

* * *

Po's pack is bigger than the others'. All he has with him is a change of pants and a few spices for the campfire dinners he'll definitely have to make. It doesn't hurt that Mr. Ping didn't forget to pack in a ridiculous amount of his roasted eggplant chips for the road.

Tigress is almost peeved at the old goose's ignorance. He's gladly helping out his son with his bags as if his clearly adult man is going on a damned _holiday_. And _Po_ —he himself is casually wondering which pair of pants he should bring. He and his father are both shoving inordinate amounts of miscellaneaous items in his bag, the ratty old thing full to bursting with _blankets and pillows_.

"Mr. Ping. Po." Tigress stares disapprovingly at the two, who are busy trying to shove a bar of soap inside. "Only bring the bare necessities. Although we will take carriages to nearby towns, we will also have to walk very long distances in the wilderness." She honestly doesn't know if they will, but a lot of her former jobs did include a fair amount of wandering in the middle of nowhere. "Do not bring things that will weigh you down, Po."

Mr. Ping gives her his most innocent face. "But how is he going to sleep without a blanket and a pillow?"

Tigress can't believe this man is serious. "On the ground, of course. But we will stay in inns if there are any."

"What about his favorite Tigress action figure?" Mr. Ping pulls out a wooden imitation of the tiger from the pack.

Tigress's eyes widen into the size of dinner plates. "What _is_ that?"

"Oh, my son talks to it every-"

" _Dad_." Comes Po's timely interruption, failing to not look at his own father like he had just thrown him out for forgetting to do the dishes.

Monkey chortles, elbowing the panda softly in the stomach. "Oh, yeah? What does he say?"

" _Dad_." Po gives his father a warning look.

Crane whistles. "This is awkward..."

Tigress silently examines the keenly crafted figurine of herself, still held caringly in Mr. Ping's hand. "That's... very interesting." The tone of her voice suggests that she thinks otherwise.

"See, son?" Mr. Ping proudly puffs out his chest. "She thinks it's interesting. Oh, all of you should see the posters and costumes Po has!"

Po's voice grows louder, more desperate. " _Dad_."

"Alright, now I'm curious." Mantis leaps to the stairs.

Viper follows closely, bowing respectfully to the restaurant's owner. "I'm curious as well. I also have a couple of posters in my room."

"Wait, no!" Po steps in front of them with startling speed, holding out his arms to block them.

"We have to leave now." Tigress deadpans, tapping her foot impatiently.

Po frantically nods, not giving ground. "She's right!"

Mr. Ping disappointedly smiles at the five. "Oh, all right, I hope you all will stop by when you come back. Both of us will be glad for the company."

A sigh of relief leaves Po's lips as he lets his arms down.

"Of course." Tigress curtly nods. "Let's go. We have lots of ground to cover."

Viper and Mantis are visibly disappointed, but they bid their farewells to the Mr. Ping, just like the rest of the five. They pick up their bags, following Tigress out the door as a very relieved Po silently thanks the tiger for saving him from the look Monkey will undoubtedly give him once he sees his costume—specificaly, his costume of Master Monkey himself.

And then there's the Master Viper scarf he got from that festival two months ago.

No words can express how mortified he is, or how even _more_ mortified he would be if anyone saw his fan club badges. The second his foot touches the ground outside, it finally hits him—he's going away, and probably not for a short time. He turns around to face his father, the man who had raised him, fed him, and bathed him since he was just a cub.

"I'll get you something, dad." Po lifts him up in his arms and holds him close. He smells of broth and tea. Some would say that it's an odd scent to assosciate to comfort, but it's just that way to the panda—for years, it had been the last thing he smelled as the goose stroked him to sleep during the thunderstroms that frightened him.

While all is lost to Po as Mr. Ping wraps his own wings around his son, it's the exact opposite to the watching tiger. She sees the proud smile on the goose's face, and her fists inexplicably curl as she turns away from the sight.

"I love you, dad." His words are true and soft, words she'd never gotten the chance to say. Even if she did say them, she doubted he would really listen.

"I love you too, son."

Something in his words make her wince. She _will_ get that scroll.

* * *

 **Alright, I know some of you are probably wondering where the TiPo is, already. I'm going to take it a bit slowly to maintain realism, but there _will_ be a good amount of fluffy goodness.**

 **Y'all good with that?**


	9. Point Of Interest

_The noodle shop has always been Po's favorite place to be. His father is there to help him whenever he puts too much salt, and the customers are mostly polite and nice. They frequently tell him what a good boy he is for helping his father work, pinching him on his cheeks and calling him cute._

 _They found his clumsy quirks funny and even endearing, at first._

 _And then he saw Master Shifu and Oogway save the town from Tai Lung, and he's been saving every last coin he has to buy posters, merchandise, and everything else. He had no dramatic, life-saving reason for his fascination, he just found them cool—who didn't, really? Masters spend their entire lives dedicated to fighting for the people, and every step they take is greeted by reverence from every corner of China._

 _Is it so wrong for him to admire them? Apparently, yes. As he grew in height and age, the kind remarks seem to diminish, while the sneering looks and scoffs begin to thrive. He's not a cute little boy any longer, but a grown man who has no friends and spends his time playing with his homemade action figures._

 _There are times when he wants to change, but the thing is, he doesn't know how to be someone who isn't him._

* * *

Po has always enjoyed the feeling of waking up in the morning, when the pleasant fog of sleep swirls lazily in his head as the opens his eyes to the dawn's first rays. His old bed creaks horribly and his blanket is a bit too small for the panda nowadays, but the almost worrying sounds his bed makes when he turns over to a nicer position to sleep in during Sundays will always bring a smile to his face.

The panda nuzzles further into his pillow, hugging it closer to himself. He finds it odd that everything is dark, but he reckons that it must be one of those days when some stray noise wakes him up before the sun is even up. Why is he upright, though? Perhaps he's just feeling disoriented. It's not strange for him to feel groggy after a night of pleasant sleep.

That doesn't explain why he's hugging his body pillow, though. He distinctly remembers not pulling it out of his closet last night, so what the _hell_ is he holding, and why is everything shaking?

His body pillow took four months of saving for him to afford, it's not supposed to be so _hard_. Or furry.

 _Wait..._

Po's eyes tear open. He's not in his room or even in his house, if the small space is any indication. Viper is staring out of the carriage's window, only her long body allowing her to do that and still remain seated at the same time. Crane is beside her, his hat obscuring his eyes as his head tilts to the side. Mantis is nowhere to be seen, while Monkey is crossing his legs and yawning.

Dare he see what or who he's holding?

Po rubs his face against it. Yes, it's definitely fur and not his body pillow. He may be imagining it but he thinks he just felt it flex uncomfortably for a second.

He dares himself to look.

Orange with streaks of black.

"You are awake." Tigress observes, when the weight on her shoulder is finally lifted.

"Finally." Monkey sleepily stretches. "I thought I would have to save your life. You looked like you were going to drool on poor Tigress."

Po awkwardly laughs. He doesn't need them to know that he does periodically drool in his sleep. "So, where's Mantis?" He asks, scooting away from the tiger and shifting the topic of the conversation.

"It's his turn to stay on watch on top." Viper cocks her head upwards, then to her side. "Crane here just got back. I think he's feeling pretty tired."

Obviously, the avian doesn't answer because he's asleep and snoring lightly.

"Master Shifu must have sent the messenger birds already." Tigress speculates. "When we arrive to the town, we will pay a visit to the guard barracks. They will have finished scouring the town by then, and they will tell us where we need to go."

"That was fast." Po comments.

"Of course. We must acquire the scroll before the Dragon Warrior festival."

Viper nods, the sound of the name immediately bringing tension to her face. "We have to hurry. If we don't bring it back before then, the Grandmasters' Council will be disgraced."

Po doesn't see the point. "What? Why?"

"You know, the usual." Monkey rolls his eyes. "They want to keep everything under wraps. The public doesn't even know the scroll is missing, and that's how they like it."

"It... um, it makes them look bad." Viper says, although her tone suggests that she's downplaying it. "They say that the public needs to believe that we're in control."

" _They_ , you mean." Monkey corrects, making a disgusted noise. "I think it's just stupid to hide stuff like this just because you want to look old and wise. You can just get a really long beard and a stick if you want that."

Tigress can tell Po is itching to say something, and she proves herself right when the panda sits upright and begins to open his mouth. "It's not just that, what if they're in danger and they don't know?"

"Exactly." Monkey grins in relief, glad that someone finally understands.

Tigress sighs, wondering if she'll have to listen to this all the way. "Whatever the Council wants, that's what we'll do."

Viper coughs hesitantly. "I guess they could do things better, but that's how it's always been, right?"

"So..." Po's been wondering about this for a while. "What happens if the Dragon Scroll isn't found before the festival?"

"Then there will be no Dragon Warrior this year, either." Tigress answers. _But I won't let that happen._

Monkey holds in the exasperated groan that he almost released. "There hasn't been a Dragon Warrior in a hundred and five years. And she was _assassinated._ "

"What?" Po seems to be saying that a lot, these days. "But the scrolls said the only Dragon Warrior that has ever existed ascended directly to the spirit world because she figured out the mystery of the universe... or something." The stories are vague, but as far as he knows, that's the gist of it.

Viper gives Monkey a strange look. "Monkey, we're not supposed to be telling this to anyone."

"Why not? It happened ages ago, anyway." He dismisses. "And yeah, she was assassinated during the war back then."

Po still can't wrap his head around the idea. "But I thought the Dragon Warrior was supposed to be the ultimate fighter! Invincible and all that."

"You know what else?"

Viper nudges him in his gut. "Monkey..."

"Viper, come on, you've got to admit something seriously shady is going on." Monkey tells her, before he turns to the cook. "No one's ever seen the Dragon Warrior actually fight. It's always been the Furious Five."

Tigress sighs. It seems that she _does_ have to listen to this all the way.

Monkey doesn't mind the irritated noise that comes from the tiger. "The Dragon Warrior only showed up for speeches and public appearances and stuff."

"How do you know this?" Po can't help but ask.

"When Masters are first chosen, we go to the home of the Grandmasters to study the greatest that came before us." Viper explains. The memory of the thin air and clouds that are close enough for her to touch makes her nostalgic, somehow. "The five of us were left there for a week to learn all about them, but there was this one vault where we weren't supposed to enter..."

"And Monkey went in anyway." Tigress still remembers the silly look on his face when he came back to their quarters.

"Anyway, the scrolls we had to read usually detailed fighting styles and the battles that they were known for, standard information." Monkey leans forward as if he's about to whisper something. "But when I went in the vault, there was only one scroll there."

Po nearly glows with awe. "The scroll of the Dragon Warrior..."

"And you know what?" Monkey suspiciously looks around. "It only said that she stopped this war and that, brokered peace with this army, rallied troops... no battles at all."

"You shouldn't have done that, Monkey." Tigress disapprovingly crosses her arms.

"That's not the point," He refutes. "Something weird is going on with all this Dragon Warrior business, I tell you. And it said right _there_ on the bottom of the scroll that she was killed during the Siege of Yue Pin."

Viper seems doubtful to speak out. "I suppose it's strange that the Grandmasters hid this."

"There hasn't been a Dragon Warrior ever since, huh." Po observes. "I wonder why."

"Everyone wonders why." Monkey elaborates. "No one even knows what makes someone a Dragon Warrior. They just read the scroll, and _boom_!" He raises his arms dramatically. "Either you see nothing or suddenly some age old whatever goes into you and you become famous."

"Wait, nothing?" Po interjects.

Viper nods. "Apparently, that's what anyone but the Dragon Warrior sees when they read the scroll."

Tigress huffs. "This speculation is meaningless. We simply need to find that scroll and bring it back," _Or I will_. "No matter what the cost."

"Calm down, Tigress." Mantis smiles, laid back as usual. "I wasn't going to storm to the Grandmasters' and throw rocks through their window. I was just wondering, that's all."

"Honestly, it's always bothered me too." Viper says, her voice distant. "Every Master's dream is to be the Dragon Warrior. We just don't know what we can do to become one." She wistfully sighs.

Po feels a pang of sympathy at her words. "Do you want to be the Dragon Warrior?"

"Everyone does." Viper smiles kindly at him, but she doesn't answer with a 'yes' or 'no'. It's clear which one would be her answer, anyway.

* * *

Nighttime rolls in before Po realizes it. He had spent the day responding and laughing at Monkey's jokes, asked Crane all about how he and Master Mountain Lion, then called Mei Ling, secured their former academy from the One Hundred Dire Wolves, and delighted in the stories Viper told about the times when she posed as a ribbon dancer before she surprised the marks she hunted by defeating them in hand-to-hand combat. Mantis gave him an interesting account of life as someone who's that much smaller than everyone else, telling him about the time he hid in a bag of potatoes to infiltrate a fort of slavers and took over the place from the inside out.

In short, it was a very good day for the panda. He can't think of better things to do than listen to the tales of the brightest and the youngest of Kung Fu, although he wished Tigress would talk more. She's been even more quiet, today. He had wanted to cheer her up with something, but before he could call out to her, the tiger had retired to her room in the inn.

"You don't think she's mad at me, right?" Po throws his back onto his bed, cracking his neck tiredly. Sitting in a carriage for a whole day does have a way of tiring him.

Monkey lounges on his bed without a care in the world, actually seeming pleased by how neat the room is. Of course the owners would give the Furious Five their best rooms. "Nah, don't think about it too much. She's probably just thinking about the best way to slice up that owl lady."

Po laughs softly, glad that the monkey is rooming with him tonight. For a moment, the panda feared that no one would want to stay with him. It's fairly common knowledge that he's quite the raucous snore. "Yeah, I guess you're right."

"So, Po, I heard what you said about Fenghuang." Monkey lowers his voice, sitting up on his sheets.

"Oh, about that," Po looks away in embarrassment. "Don't worry about what I said, I was just rambling."

"What?" Monkey blinks. "Don't let the others get you down, Po, I actually think you had a point there."

The cook's eyes widen as he sits on his own bed. It creaks in response. "Really?"

Monkey nods. "Yeah, Po, I'm the only one out of everyone here who's really from the streets." Po knows, but he doesn't say anything about it—it's fairly common knowledge that Master Monkey used to be a notorious thief from the East side of China. A lot of people didn't take it well when the former criminal was selected to be one of the Five. "I know how the empire works."

"So..."

Monkey's eyes darken. "I think this whole Dragon Warrior thing is—"

The door suddenly opens, a fresh-faced Crane walking in with Mantis on his hat. "Hey," The avian greets, certainly looking invigorated by his long nap. "Let's have some dinner. I saw this restaurant down the street owned by this gazelle from the Southern Isles."

"Yeah, I'm starving." Mantis rubs his belly. Po remembers a time when he thought the smallest of the Five couldn't possibly eat so much—he was wrong. Then he sees Monkey leaning towards Po like they're a couple of schoolboys in a sleepover, whispering secrets in each other's ears. "Uh, what's going on?"

"Nothing. As I was saying," Monkey turns to Po with a message in his eyes. ' _Later_ ' is what it says. "If you think it'll cheer her up, you could whip up one of your snacks. It's not too late, maybe the kitchen staff will let you borrow their stuff."

"Hold up," Mantis grins at the implications. "Are you talking about Tigress, our dear battering ram?"

"No?" Po's answer comes too hastily.

Monkey ignores him. "Yeah, we were, before you boys decided to come along."

The door that Crane neglected to close suddenly has a long, serpentine head poking through. "Who's talking about Tigress?"

"Exactly." The tiger walks from just behind the snake. "Who's been talking about me?"

"Po." Monkey innocently says.

" _What_?" Po harshly whispers.

He gives Po his best apologetic look, but nobody misses Monkey's snicker when Po gulps and averts his gaze.

* * *

 **Oh, Monkey...**

 **Thanks for reading this far, guys! I'm very happy about the positive reaction I've gotten, so far. Honestly, I didn't expect to get this good of a reception, so that makes me even happier.**

 **Prepare for some camping shenanigans in the future chapters! If you have any camping scenarios you'd like to request (fluffy or funny or sad, whatever), feel free to send them to me... 'cause I feel the writer's block coming and any suggestions would help a lot.**


	10. The Side Quest

**If this was an RPG game, this would be the part where you do a side quest with that really incapable NPC. Also, time to Scooby Doo this fic up, because why not. Time for the "minor problem they have to solve before they get to the big villain" thing.**

* * *

Walking side by side with the Furious Five isn't that new to Po, but it never ceases to feel that way. Crowds part and bow in respect as they pass and most of the five are more than happy to greet them and give a few well placed smiles. Of course, by most, he means everyone but Tigress.

He's reminded of the days in his adolescence when he used to watch fellow children of his age play and laugh together from the sides, sure that his clumsiness would just embarrass him in front of them again. It's different now. They've only known each other for a long time, but the five stop whenever he falls behind, and they listen to his comments. As they walk past the various landmarks on their way to the barrack, they occasionally ask him about his opinion on the random subjects they're prone to talk about.

"Okay, here we are." Mantis looks more than a little bored as they approach the guard barracks.

A lone rhino stands by the gate, looking as if he's just dying to sit down and end his shift, already. A visible look of relief crosses his face as he sees them approach. "The Furious Five! Finally."

 _Finally?_ Tigress almost snorts in irritation. "Report."

"The guards in the towers reported of an owl with some kind of big stick wrapped in some cloths flying overhead a few hours ago. They thought she was a messenger. She was headed to Gaofeng Forest."

"Anything else?"

"No, Master." The rhino respectfully bows. "Um," he raises his head. "Are you really going to go there?"

Tigress doesn't understand the question. "Yes. Is there a problem?"

"No, of course not." He gives them a look that suggests he may be questioning their common sense. "It's just that... Um... Not a lot of people pass by the forest anymore."

Po shudders, but he puts on a confident smile. "Hey, I'm a hundred percent sure that these guys can handle whatever's in there."

The guard transfers his look to the panda in front of him. "Pal, it's home to poisonous plants that look like the normal stuff you put in your lunch. No one comes out of the place fine, anyway, they either run off like babies or don't come back at all."

Po obviously didn't know that. "Oh..."

"And, just letting you know..." The rhino lowers his voice a little. "Heard some of the guys who didn't come back were Masters."

"Seriously?" Po gives Viper a look, asking for confirmation. "What's in there, then?"

Viper keeps quiet.

"Place is haunted or something, that's what I've heard." He looks quite skeptical. "Yeah, but my friends who made it out looked pretty hysterical to me. They could've been exaggerating."

Crane nervously coughs. "H-Haunted?"

Po gulps. "Haunted?" He repeats after the avian.

Tigress eyes them, disgruntled at their display. "Haunted or no, we're going in tomorrow morning."

Po obviously can't check if Crane is paling under his feathers, but the horrific look on his face is enough to tell him that, yes, he probably is paling under all that white. "Of course." The Master of the Crane Style straightens his face.

Po pats him reassuringly on his back. "Hey, we have all of you, so what's the worst that could happen?" He tries to sound as convincing as possible, although he does sound like he's trying to soothe himself rather than the crane.

"Don't jinx us, Po." Monkey forebodingly quips. "That's always what they say before everything goes to hell."

"It never ends well for the meddling kids." Viper giggles.

"Maybe we'll get lucky and we end up kicking some costumed guy's ass?" Mantis shrugs.

Tigress can't help but think of how angry Master Shifu would be if he caught anyone from the five using 'that sort of language', as he puts it. "We leave first thing tomorrow morning."

"Don't remind me." Crane mutters to himself.

"Thank you for the report." Tigress nods to the guard before she turns to the rest of them. "It's time for dinner. We will eat and retire early to preserve our strength for tomorrow."

The guard makes a silent whistle at the tiger's words. "That's tough." He mouths to Po.

The one who replies is Monkey, who smirks at him the moment Tigress turns her back. "You have no idea."

* * *

Tigress' stomach grumbles hungrily as she passes by one restaurant after another.

 _Too much oil._

 _The food doesn't smell fresh._

 _That's a lot of salt for one dish._

She wants Po's cooking. The tiger isn't one for complaining much, or at all, really, but she really does feel like complaining about the lack of available kitchens that the panda can use.

"So..." Monkey's drawn out voice brings her out of her inner dialogue. "Are we going to eat, or what?"

"Of course we are." Tigress answers, although she isn't quite sure where. "We're just looking for place that sells suitable food."

"Great job, Po." Mantis coins in. "You just ruined any other food for her."

"It's not because of that," Tigress hotly scowls at him, cursing internally. "I just—"

"Holy crap." Monkey looks straight past her.

Viper seems to agree. "That's one big pot of porridge."

A very, very large pot of porridge steams in the middle of the plaza as a small raccoon hurriedly chops a rather long leek. It must be as tall as Po and just as wide, with a set of stairs leading up to it. As rushed as he seems to be, he doesn't seem to be very good at what he's doing. The chopped leeks are uneven and large, and he looks like he's just about to cry when he wipes his brow and realizes he still has a very large pile of vegetables and spices at his side, all of them untouched.

Of course, his expressions turns to the exact opposite when he sees them. "The Furious Five!"

"We've been hearing that a lot." Monkey grins.

"Oh, this is perfect!" The raccoon claps his hands. "Please give me an endorsement."

Tigress raises an eyebrow. "An endorsement?"

"Yeah, a publicity stunt." He eagerly explains. "I'm just filling in for the cook tonight. He's sick and I can't cook very well. It's a disaster!"

"Then why open tonight?" Tigress crosses her arms exasperatedly. "Is it not better to wait for your cook to be better so he can produce quality food?"

"Because we need the money, Master." He sheepishly shifts his feet.

"Our buddy here's the Jade Palace's cook." Monkey looks towards his panda companion. "What do you say, Po?"

"What do I say to what?"

"That's a perfect idea." The raccoon nods furiously. "Young man, if you cook for us, I'll give you a cut of our profits tonight and all of you can eat for as much as you want."

"Really?" Po can't believe what he's hearing. He must really be a bad cook. He looks at the butchered leeks on his counter. Yes, a very bad cook indeed.

"Even better, I want to host an eating contest between the Furious Five."

"What?" The five simultaneously ask. Tigress is the only one whose tone is displeased.

"Please." He bats his eyelids exaggeratedly. "It'll get attention and help me boost sales. I don't know how else to do that!"

Tigress is not amused. Viper gives her hopeful look. "Let's help him out."

The tiger sighs. Po is already scouring for the perfect combination of everything on the table, and she has five full grown adults looking up at her like children begging to play outside. Besides, she really does have a craving for the panda's food... "Fine."

Her companions whoop and high five each other. "Thank you so much!" The raccoon bows with enough enthusiasm to almost plant his face on the ground.

Without delay, Po begins chopping so fast that the raccoon's jaw drops as low as it can at the sight. Tigress admits that he has as much skill with his cooking as she does with her Kung Fu. His tongue sticks out from the corner of his mouth in focus. Tigress can tell that he knows exactly what he's doing.

"I'm sure glad we brought Po with us." Viper says, looking up at the taller woman.

Tigress makes a sound of approval, content to just watch the young man work his surprisingly agile hands. Before long, he's scooping the vegetables up in a bucket to dump them in the giant of a pot, because that's how big the whole thing is.

Also, she's staring in anticipation because she's fucking _hungry_ and she hardly notices the small circle forming around them. She only sees the sphere of people watching them with interest when she hears her name whispered more times than she's used to.

"People are watching." Crane observes, shrinking just a little bit at all the attention.

Monkey waves at a little dog boy, flashing a charming smile at the crowd. "And you're complaining?"

Tigress huffs. "I don't see what's so interesting about watching us wait for our dinner."

"I guess you're grouchy when you're hungry, huh?" Viper teases.

"I am not." Tigress insists, but she does tap her foot in impatience when she feels heat around her back. Po must have started the fire, which means it shouldn't take much longer.

"Right..." Viper shrugs with an uncharacteristically smug look on the former dancer's face. "I think I've heard your tummy grumble five times tonight."

To emphasize the snake's point, Tigress' nose twitches as she smells the most delectable scent from over her head. She ignores her fellow master's words and instead leaves her alone to check on Po.

She didn't know how to respond. She should have initiated some good natured banter and teased her back like most people would do, but she isn't most people. She's Tigress, and she's been away from people who aren't barking orders at her for so long that she doesn't even know how to handle them anymore.

Before she disappears behind the gargantuan pot, she gives Viper one look. Thankfully for her, the snake catches it and looks back, albeit quite a bit puzzled. Tigress gives her one stiff smile that lasts for a fraction of a second, just so the reptile knows that she isn't completely pissed off.

Tigress doesn't linger long enough for Viper to return the gesture and quickly goes behind the pot, safely out of her sight. "Is it ready, Po?" She immediately feels like smacking herself for the blatant display of her impatience.

Po chuckles as he stirs the pot with what looks like a very big stick. The rise and fall of his chest suggests that he's more than ready to take a break. "Yeah, just a few minutes until it's done. Are you hungry?"

"I... Yes." Tigress says, her voice a bit too quiet to be in character. She sees him stir more vigorously at her answer and instantly chastises herself for answering so bluntly. Of course the sweet panda would do that. "Would you like my help?"

"No, that's fine." Po says, his breaths a bit too forced to be comfortable.

Tigress frowns. She's not about sit down and let the panda stir this ridiculously large pot for her and everyone else, especially if her insticts are right and he'll try to convince that buffoon raccoon not to pay him, which he will probably do. "I insist."

"I can handle it." Po grins. "Why don't you just sit down and rest for a bit?"

"We've been sitting for hours in the carriage, Po." Tigress deadpans. "Now move aside."

Po is seems a bit rattled at those last three words. "Oh, okay."

Tigress wants to slap herself again. Of course, the one time she actually decides to be nice, she ends up scaring the poor man. Po's descent to the ground is emphasized by the his usual heavy footsteps, and soon she's the one ascending to the top of the stairs. "I saw you struggling." She says, after a while of being far too quiet. "I wanted to assist you."

It's disconcerting for her to see that Po doesn't seem the least bit surprised. "I know. Thanks, Tigress."

She doesn't reply to him, but instead stands over the stupidly large pot—she'll make sure to find out why the hell anyone would be stupid enough to get this—and begins to stir, hoping that she won't end up doing what she did the last time she touched a kitchen utensil.

* * *

 **Spoiler alert: Tigress fucks up. Also prepare for some fluff.**

 **Anyone want a sleepover-ish chapter after this? Of course, it will be filled with juvenile conversations and alcohol.**


	11. Squishy

**Hey all. Sorry for the long wait, I recently moved to Vancouver and it's taking a while to get things sorted out. Have a filler chapter now, before everything is all serious. I'm so sorry it's so short too, you can punch me as my punishment.**

 **That sounds really kinky.**

* * *

"Honestly, I don't know what he was thinking." Po absentmindedly says, after the raccoon left to do some errand or another. He even looks remorseful as he says it. "I mean, something this big would be really hard to manage because it'll take forever if you cook it with low heat, but it'll burn on high heat if you don't stir enough."

Tigress lets the cooking jargon he says next fly over her head completely as she resumes her stirring. It does feel like it should be lighter than this, but it's no issue at all for her. Curiously, she lifts up whatever she's been stirring with to reveal what's obviously a wooden boat paddle.

Po's words trail off when he sees it. "That's... Really weird."

"What an idiot." Tigress speaks his thoughts out loud. "You can say it. No one will argue with you."

"O-Okay." He wishes he could stop stuttering around them. Maybe it will stop, given enough time. "Um, could you stir a little faster?"

Tigress nods at the panda at the bottom of the set of stairs. "Of course."

Viper swings her tail in the air in a mixture of boredom and anticipation. It moves like a pendulum, swishing from left to right in a steady tempo. Mantis inconspicuously whistles at the sight they're both more than a little surprised to see. "Now that's something." He mutters.

"Hm?"

"Y'know, the big girl working with a ladle." It's not a ladle, but he doesn't know that and that's exactly why they needed a cook. "Last time that happened, I crapped so much and-"

"No, no, no." Viper shudders. "Please don't remind me about that anymore."

"Don't remind you?" Mantis gawks. "I was the victim, not you."

The snake doesn't look less horrified, although she does lower her voice enough to be out of Tigress' earshot. "Well, none of us are very good at cooking. Come on, we should appreciate what she's doing."

"Po does, that's for sure." Mantis even seems a bit interested in whatever topic the panda and the tiger are discussing. The cook is down the stairs with his back turned to them, preparing something as he chats casually with the master. "Did you see him grunting and heaving up there?"

"It's nice of her to help him out, really." Viper says, and with good reason. "I honestly thought she'd just tell him to get over it."

Mantis is not surprised at all that the snake's words hold no harm at all. It's a perfectly valid observation, after all. "Heh. Maybe we're starting to soften her up."

She knows that it's probably not that easy, but it doesn't stop her from hoping. "That would be nice. I think she's just shy."

"Shy?" He seems unable to wrap his head around the thought. "She was handpicked because she was well known for being a fucking badass."

Viper notices Tigress stir faster again when Po says something to her from his position. "I know what I'm talking about, Mantis." Her forked tongue darts in and out of her mouth slyly. "I didn't infiltrate Warlord Yue's ranks by being a bad judge of character."

Mantis rolls his eyes in good humor. "Fine, fine, you're the only one who left the enemy ranks confused and wondering who could have killed everyone in their fortress and gotten the rest arrested the next day."

Po's ears perk up and he turns around, turnip in hand. "Oh, I have so many questions about that! Is it true that you pretended to be a dancer to get inside?"

"That's true." Viper never seems to tire of his enthusiasm. "The part where I put his bodyguard in a pickle barrel and rolled him down the hill wasn't though."

"Aw." Po seems a bit disappointed, but he doesn't stay that way for long. "But did you really strangle him with his own whip?"

"I did." Viper looks back fondly at the grisly yet commendable method. "I was absolutely mortified then, but I guess it wasn't that bad if it got the Grandmasters' attention."

"It's why they chose to make you a candidate for a master, right?" Po squeezes the turnip with glee. "That's so-" Something warm and wet sloshes into the short fur of his back and head. The thick mixture gathers into a small hill on his head before it slides down towards his nose and eventually his mouth. His tongue darts out and swipes over his lips.

The porridge needs a little texture.

Everyone's eyes fall to a rather mortified Tigress. The boat paddle is being clutched so tight that it might break right between her fingers. A kitten points at her before her parents tell her to walk along and stop staring at her.

This is the first time they've seen her look somewhere between extreme humiliation and helplessness. A few deathly silents seconds pass as her jaw hangs straight down. A drop of porridge falls down from the panda's nose.

"I was... You told me about the whisking and I thought I'd try it." Tigress doesn't think the explanation makes things better. The apology doesn't, either. "I'm very sorry. I'll clean you up."

Mantis suddenly bursts out laughing for a reason she doesn't comprehend, followed by each of her teammates one by one until finally, Po joins in with them. He sounds as chipper as ever, even with porridge dripping down his back.

Tigress can't believe that she's actually starting to feel like she's shrinking. Her, _Tigress_ , because five adults are laughing at her. Even though her cheeks are starting to burn under her fur and anger is the last thing she's feeling right now, a disgusted scowl is the first thing that comes to the surface. Mantis immediately freezes up at the sight of her canines gleaming at him, but the nudge of Viper's tail is enough to make him tear his eyes away from the tiger.

Viper would be crossing her arms, if she had some.

Mantis coughs under the inexplicable look in Tigress' firefly yellow eyes. She's unflinchingly still. "Uh, Tigress..." He suddenly feels very, very cold when the rest of them look at him, confused and almost alarmed. "We're not laughing at you, y'know?"

More silence. His forced smile sets off warnings in her head. "Were you not laughing at me just a moment ago?" She likes to think that she does a good job at hiding her shame.

He chuckles in relief when he realizes no one is going to stomp on him tonight. "Damn, of course not."

This time, the sincerity in his smile catches her off guard and she isn't able to hide the slightly muddled look in her face. "I don't understand."

Crane decides to step in when he sees Mantis visibly trying to come up with words in his head. "We're laughing because."

"Because?" The tiger has never been fond of incomplete sentences.

"Just because." Crane finishes after a while, wondering why she wanted him to elaborate in the first place. "You don't need a reason, do you?"

Tigress admits to herself that asking would earn nothing, but she is interested in what they have to say. "You need a reason for everything."

"We're your friends." Po walks closer towards her with an obvious gap between his thighs. His odd steps seem very uncomfortable. "Isn't that reason enough?"

Viper takes a moment to look away from his strange gait. "He's right. You don't-" She pauses when she sees him scrunch up his face. "Po, is there something wrong?"

"N-Nothing." He grins awkwardly.

Monkey can see that the cook is bullshitting, but he decides not to push it. "Viper's got a point, Tigress. You gotta chill out."

It's feels strange, but she actually feels nervous as they look to her for a response. Even Po, whose face is locked in a grimace, waits for her reply. "I... Of course."

Viper can see through her lackluster response. "Hey, Mantis, I hear you used to work at a tavern."

"I did. The sailors loved my _baijiu_. What, you want me to mix something up?" He chuckles.

"In fact, yes." Viper says, to his surprise. "I saw a liquor store nearby. Maybe you can mix up something not too hard for us?"

Tigress isn't sure she heard her clearly. "Us?"

"All of us, if there are no objections." Viper stops the tiger before she can respond. "And don't worry, I'm sure Mantis won't make anything that will stop us from fighting tomorrow."

"Inebriation reduces combat effectiveness."

"Oh, come on." Monkey himself is quite looking forward to it. He hasn't gone out drinking ever since that night when he was nominated to be a master. "It'll be just a bit, right, Mantis?"

Mantis huffs. "Fine, but we're having some real ones once we catch her. Hey Po, since you're not fighting, you've got to have some actual..." His words trail off once he sees the taller man grasping at his own waistband, stopping when he realizes they're watching him. "Alright, what's going on?"

"I'm fine." Po's voice is strained.

Mantis narrows his eyes. Before the panda can blink, he's already launched himself into Po's shoulder, turning him around to see his back.

The porridge has trailed into his pants.

"Ew..." Crane takes a step back.

Po's face is red under his fur, and it's only getting hotter and hotter. "Please don't stare."

Monkey snickers and elbows Tigress, who stares at him in confusion. He leans into her ear. "Take that out of context." He mutters.

She tries to, but all she keeps thinking is why Mantis is uncontrollably holding in his laughs while Crane and Viper are looking away and trying to force down the increasingly rising corners of their mouths. "I don't understand."

Po's face steams.

Monkey sniggers. "Hey Po, is it squishy in there?"

As if on cue, a trail of porridge streams down his pant leg. "Oh, dear." Viper almost innocently giggles. "I hope that's porridge."

Crane almost sputters when the rest start laughing again, while Tigress finally audibly gasps as she finally catches on to what they're talking about. "Did you just make a dirty joke?"

"What's so surprising about that?"

Mantis coughs. "Your dad was a damn hardass?"

"Well, he always said that I needed to be able to get along with all sorts of people." Viper shrugs, although her ever present friendly smile is still there. "I've met plenty of honest, hard working people who talk like this. It's not so unbelievable, especially since these kinds of jokes are your specialty."

"Wait," Po's eyes widen in shock. "Who's watching the porridge?" Five masters stand before him, and none of them are on the stairs. After a very brief realization, he runs with his thighs far apart, bits of porridge dripping down his legs as he awkwardly shuffles back up.

And they laugh. Maybe Tigress is only slightly chuckling when the others have to hold their stomachs as they run out of air, but it's still a chuckle. It's a good start. In fact, Po's shoulders start to rise and fall with his own laughter when he finally gets to the pot and sees that the porridge isn't ruined yet. He's a mess, but any trace of embarrassment soon melts away into what she can only describe as sheer enjoyment.

 _Ah_. Now she understands.


	12. Oh Boy

**So... Moving to Vancouver has been a crappy time absorber. Updates will resume to it's normal schedule from now on!**

* * *

Mantis groans and rubs his stuffed belly, burping loudly and joining Monkey in his immobile sitting. The people around them are gathered up and watching their every move, or at least Tigress'. They've all collapsed but her, but how wide Viper's jaw can stretch open to surprised them all. The reptile managed to scarf down much more than was expected of her, holding out long enough to earn second place.

Of course, since they're all pathetically moaning in their seats, the crowds' eyes are fixed on Tigress. She calmly wipes her mouth and puts her bowl on the tall stack of other ones. She neatly puts her spoon down, resisting a smile when Po burps loudly in front of her, an equally high pile in front of him.

"Up for some more?" Po pats his tummy contentedly.

"That would be nice, but then the customers won't have anything to eat." She glances at the gathering crowd. "And there are people to feed."

Monkey feels like he would retch if anyone pressed down on his stomach. "I can't believe the two of you."

Po takes the dirty bowls in his hands. "I'd better go ahead and wash these up. Oh, darn, the food's almost out. I've got to hurry and make some more."

"I'll help you with the dishes, buddy." Monkey belches in a way that would make his mother livid. "After I can walk."

"You go cook, Po. I think Tigress and I can handle the customers." Viper helpfully suggests, very aware of the tiger's silent surprise. "Mantis, why don't you buy the drinks for tonight?"

"Ugh, that might be a good idea." He wobbles a bit as he walks, his light footed gait absolutely gone.

"I guess I'll help with scooping them into the bowls." Crane offers.

"Alright, everyone, let's get cooking." Po cracks his knuckles like a master readying for an upcoming battle.

Tigress dumbly stares at the bowls that Crane quickly cranes out to her. The raccoon man is lining the patrons up, and much to her horror, she looks like she's going to be the one serving them. She looks to Viper for help.

"Just hand them the bowls." The snake smiles.

Tigress stiffly looks down at the small deer boy whose height barely reaches her hips. He seems hesitant to step forward, as if afraid that the tiger will attempt to maul him for dinner. He holds a small shiny coin that he nervously shifts between his fingers.

She fetches the bowl with her large, hardened hands and slowly gives it to him. "Viper will give you your change." She looks towards the snake, who stands ready with a pocket of coins on the table.

Everything is so convenient tonight, isn't it?

"T-Thank you." The boy bows so deeply that she's afraid he might spill the food on the ground. He giddily gives the snake his large coin, bouncing on the balls of his feet in anticipation. When Viper's tail uncoils to give him three small bronze coins, he nearly squees with excitement. "I'm your biggest fan." He quickly sputters to her, before scurrying off so fast he nearly trips on his feet.

"That's sweet." Viper smiles warmly. "I wish he stayed longer."

"We're serving food." Tigress bluntly answers. "He'll hold up the line."

"Oh, come on." She cocks her head to the next customer, a middle aged swallow. "Some of them has got to be hardcore fans of yours." She says, not loud enough for anyone else to hear.

"I doubt it." She hands the swallow the bowl. Tigress knows she's got a reputation.

"You've got a hardcore fan by the cooking pot there."

Out of curiosity, she looks behind her. Po. Of course. She gives Viper an unamused look. "What are you doing?"

Upon sensing her displeasure, the reptile seems to hesitate in answering until she finally smiles that genuine smile of hers. She knows she can't directly talk about anything too sensitive, or else the tiger won't be happy if someone manages to hear. "A single tree does not make a forest. A single string can not make music."

Tigress mulls over her response for the next several bowls of food that she passes out. Po's nearby humming and the clattering of dishes are all she listens to, opting respond to the woman with her after a while. "I see your point. It is said that the best Furious Five batches were those who knew each other like they knew themselves."

Viper doesn't expect her to not argue about it, but she isn't complaining, even if the tiger's reasoning has something to do with her duties. Everything she has to say is related to it, anyway. Tigress feels someone poke her knee. Looking down, she sees the littlest frail bunny at her feet. Her fur is snow white and her big black eyes dart around like wolves lurk then corners around her, waiting to pounce and take her away.

The feline coughs. "Here's your food."

The bunny timidly takes the bowl, even the average sized object seeming too big in her thin hands. Her feet nearly bring her to to the side, once, but she brings herself back. She looks up at the tiger with her defiant big eyes. "I wanna be strong like you, one day. You're so cool!"

"I... Thank you." Tigress checks the like to see if the customers are as impatient as she expects them to be. Surprisingly to her, the children point in excitement and the adults who aren't smiling with anticipation are cooing at the little girl's luck. Not everyone gets to talk to Master Tigress. "Thank you very much."

"See, I knew you were nice." The bunny grins, all her previous anxiety seemingly dissipating. "My friends say you're cool but you look scary and mean, but I know you're really great! I'm gonna tell them they were wrong!" She gives the tiger's leg a one armed hug, careful not to spill anything.

She watches, dumbfounded as the girl drops a few coins into Viper's pouch and skips away.

"Told you." Viper says, although she sounds anything but smug.

Tigress can't bring it in herself to look angry at her. "How did you know?"

The snake shrugs. "I don't know, I'd be a fan too if someone repelled a horde of alligators from the South from my home."

"I was only doing my what I had to do."

"Really?" Viper doesn't seem like she's buying it at all. "You didn't want to save them at all?"

Tigress passes out what seems to be her eighth seventh bowl. "I did, because I was supposed to."

"And it didn't feel good when the whole Valley bowed for you?"

She frowns. "That's not why I did it, and you know that."

"I know, Tigress." Viper fishes out some change and gives it to the ox in front of her. "But it felt nice to be appreciated, didn't it? Perhaps being a master means more to you than earning respect from townsfolk and citizens, but your heroics were everything to them. After all, you saved them."

But it's never enough for her. "And what are you saying?"

Viper lowers her voice, leaning a bit closer. "You have the look of someone who has more in mind than having your name spoken in awe by the people. I can tell." She has a good idea of why the tiger was so unwilling to take breaks on their way here. She has her eye on the honor of being named Dragon Warrior.

The feline has always thought that her comrade was smart, but she doesn't find it amusing when she's the one being analyzed under her unblinking eyes.

Seeing her discomfort spurs Viper to rest her tail on Tigress' shoulder. "Don't have your eyes set too much on the diamond or else you'll lose sight of the gold below your feet."

Tigress now knows that her first impression of the former dancer is not misplaced. "That... Was wise. Thank you."

"You're welcome." Viper smiles warmly. "Maybe now you'll see why our little stand is so popular."

And she does. The lines get longer and longer but what catches her attention is how much chatter is amongst the crowd as they look upon them with an almost worshipping awe. Children pull their parents to queue and friends spout trivia about their past exploits. They quiver when they take their foods and brush against the strengthened paws of Tigress herself, and then some more when Viper's smooth tail glides across their hands to give them their change.

They're being served food by the youngest and most promising legends of Kung Fu.

Viper probably expected it to make her feel very good. No, it just makes her feel very self conscious and she suspects that she knows it. "What are you thinking?" The snake asks, after a period of silence.

"It's new." Tigress answers, but when Viper's eyes don't leave her, she tells herself that's probably not the answer she was looking for. "It's a bit..."

"Uncomfortable?"

"To say the least."

"Po doesn't make you comfortable, though, but maybe it's because he's been so sweet with all of us, hm?"

Tigress has a feeling the snake meant something by that question, but she doesn't care enough to pry. "I suppose."

"And what do you think about that?"

A few seconds tick by. "It's very nice."

Viper chuckles. "You should tell him that, then."

"Why? There's no reason to."

"Because I think he'd really appreciate it."

She doesn't answer to that. What would be the point?

* * *

The raccoon seems like he's going to keel over with the sheer weight of the bag of coins in his arms. It's so tall that it almost covers his eyes, even when he's holding it close to the ground. "No, I insist. The only reason my sales exceeded all expectations was because the Furious Five helped!"

Tigress taps her foot disapprovingly.

"What?" He blinks innocently, before his eyes flare in realization. "Oh, and you." He sheepishly smiles at Po, whose height even fails to make him noticeable in his current company.

"Yeah, uh, thanks."

The raccoon gulps under Tigress' annoyed frown, as if the other masters' discomfort isn't awkward enough for him. He puts down his pouch and digs into it, fetching another smaller one from his pocket and filling it full with coins. Without warning, he stuffs it into Po's large pocket. "I'll just leave this with the young man here. Thank you again!" He bows hurriedly and scurries away before the panda can give it back.

Po stands with his arm outstretched, staring into the disappearing groups of people. He puts it back down. "Well, he looked like he was in a hurry."

"What an ungrateful sneak." Tigress clicks her tongue. "You deserved more than this for all the work you did."

"Of course you'd say that." Monkey wriggles his eyebrows. "You'd trade your arm for Po's stuff."

"Phrasing, Monkey." Crane says, looking quite horrified.

Tigress gives him a deathly glare. "Quiet."

The former street rat seals his lips tighter than a safe.

"Anyway," Po steps in between them, effectively diffusing the situation. "Let's split the money up." He pulls the small piece of rope that ties it together and carefully empties the contents of the pouch. There, in between the pile of bronze, silver, and gold, lies a single scrap of paper.

"No way." Crane looks like he can't believe what he's seeing.

"Oh, boy..." Mantis agrees.

Po scratches his head in deep thought. "What's wrong?"

"This isn't the first time I've had to deal with mysterious notes." The avian sighs, not seeming very amused at all. "They tend to lead you on wild goose chases."

"Oh, come on." Po waves him off casually. He rolls the paper between his fingers. "It's a thank you note, probably."

"A thank you note that I don't remember seeing him write."

At that, Po opens the note. The writing is pristine and neat, definitely not something that raccoon could write in a hurry. _You're on the right track, then. See you there. Love, Fenghuang._

"I knew it." Crane groans. "I'm a little bit concerned about how we're getting to the 'everyone is actually a sleeper agent' phase so quickly."

"I know what you mean." Viper sighs. "I had to infiltrate a sleeper agent rank before. It was the whole platoon. They were all spies."

Crane seems more than a bit impressed. "You infiltrated a group of infiltrators."

Po looks at the small heart next to Fenghuang's name. "I guess even evil villains like cute things?"

Monkey knows all too well that good and evil isn't that easy, but he lets it slide for now. "So... Did we really work to give that hag a crap load of money?"

* * *

 **Guys, please do tell me if I made mistakes here and there. I'm just thinking of ways to fill the time as the gang makes their way to Fenghuang, so please give suggestions!**


	13. The Beginning Of a Long Day

"I knew it was too good to be true." Mantis mutters to Viper.

"Let's turn in for the night." Tigress walks quickly up the stairs. "We will leave early tomorrow." She doesn't wait for anyone to follow before opening the door, entering it and leaving it open for the only reptile in the group to follow.

"I guess I'll see you boys tomorrow." Viper regretfully says. She won't be the one to oppose the tiger. That would be a death wish, through and through.

Mantis's aura of disappointment shows in the slump of his shoulders as he follows Crane into their room. "Okay. See you all tomorrow."

They say their farewells and the night ends in a fairly unsatisfying note for probably everyone but a certain tiger. Monkey doesn't seem too disappointed, despite his earlier protests. Instead, Po feels quite a bit strange when the master smiles with satisfaction and a little bit of relief as he closes the door.

And then he remembers. The former street rat has something to tell him.

The panda watches quietly as Monkey flips onto his bed and lies with one leg propped on another, his arms behind his head. "You're getting along great with everyone, Po. How does it feel?"

"Great." It's the first thing that comes to mind. "Almost like it can't be real. I mean, me traveling with you guys?" His voice takes on a dreamy note. "Wow. Just wow."

"I know how you feel, buddy." Monkey chuckles. He was never able to stay in places like this when he was poor. "I grew up with two brothers and a sister. I spent a lot of days just screwing around the way kids do. Mom and dad had too many of us to really pay attention enough when I got into trouble with the locals."

Po nods, but doesn't interrupt. He takes a seat on his own bed, deciding not to tell Monkey that he knows what's coming next.

"I was a poor kid. Two parents' salaries don't usually cover the costs of food for all of us. The former Master Baboon opened Kung Fu classes and I used to watch from the sidelines because I couldn't pay his fees." May the man's soul rest in peace. It's been years since he passed on. "But he was a cool guy. He called me out one day and offered to train me after his classes ended, and you know the rest. Years later, some nobles tried to get rid of my slums to build themselves a big house. Mom didn't want to leave. A guard slapped her, but I knocked him right into a vegetable cart."

"They threw you in prison for it."

Monkey chuckles a little morbidly. "Yeah. I made some friends, saw some things that a lot of people have never seen. By the time I got out, I couldn't settle into the family life anymore. I was a criminal. Everything changes when you become one." His voice takes a turn for the bitter, although he hides it quite well. "I was the friendly neighborhood kid and then I was a menace. I couldn't let my family deal with the shame. I left, and you probably know the rest of the story."

"Yeah, I do." Po doesn't know what else to say.

"I've seen some shit, Po. Tigress was raised by Shifu, Viper's old man was a master too, Crane worked at a Kung Fu school and Mantis mostly just drifted around and started bar fights." He chuckles when he sees Po's eyes widen. "Hey, he doesn't deny it."

At this point, he's starting to wonder what Monkey is trying to say. "Alright, then." That's not how he would have put it, though. "What did you want to say?"

"We're all masters here, Po. We ultimately work for the Emperor, and we eat up all the royals' bullshit." He lowers his voice, although he knows the walls are thick enough. "They were right to be worried when they made me one, because I didn't grow up listening to their crap, not like everyone else."

Po gulps nervously. He almost feels like he's conspiring to kill the Emperor himself.

"You're not a master and we all like you. That's why I need to tell you this." He pauses until he's sure the cook is ready to listen. "I think the Dragon Warrior doesn't exist."

"What?" Po doesn't wait until Monkey can explain himself. "That's impossible!"

Before the panda can register what's happening, a hand closes his mouth. "Shhh." Monkey holds up a finger. "Listen to me, would you?" He warily says, although he isn't surprised by his reaction. "The Dragon Warrior's supposed to be some super powerful warrior but every one of them so far mostly negotiated. Politics, you know?"

Po replies without delay. "But not all of them."

"Yeah, but according to the stuff I learned, they weren't these super powerful fighters with secret techniques and whatnot." He counters. "Hell, after I did a little digging, the Dragon Warrior is usually some average Furious Five member or someone who no one's even heard of."

"An average Furious Five member is really tough, though..." Po knows that this generation of the Five is the most promising one in years, but even they can't dismiss the ones that came before them.

"And then look at Fenghuang." Monkey doesn't feel like he has to explain his previous statement. "She read the scroll and she definitely saw something that made her kill a Grandmaster before she went all witchy and disappeared. That would make her the Dragon Warrior, right?"

"We already talked about this with the others, right?" Po doesn't seem too keen on talking about it. He almost looks scared to see if anyone's going to catch him for blaspheming or such acts.

"Fact is, she opened the scroll and she saw something, which logically means she's the Dragon Warrior, but the Council's covering the whole thing up. I saw every record when I snuck inside the vault. Viper told you about it."

"Yeah, she did." He wants to say a 'but' in there, but he realizes after some digging that he can't find a valid one.

"I'm a master too, Po. If the Council hears about what I just said, they'll strip me of my title." The grimness on his face is real now. "I've been on the streets for a long time. I can tell you're a good guy and you won't rat me out, so don't let the rest of them fall for this."

"Wait." Po finally comes up with the courage to ask his question. "Are you sure about any of this?"

"I've seen the worst of the Empire, Po." Monkey doesn't feel like he needs to elaborate. "Not many people notice, but it's all we poor kids know. They tear down our homes, make some excuse to do it, then leave us homeless because they don't care. I'm sure they're hiding something."

"But why tell me this now?" He scratches his head, confused.

"Because we're going after the Dragon Scroll, which is stolen by someone who's read it before and saw something." Monkey's formerly playful eyes darken with purpose. "We're searching in the dark, and I have a gut feeling that something there is waiting for us."

Po hears his father's voice in his head to leave it alone, don't go looking for issues, but it goes unnoticed. All he knows is that a hero is talking to him and he's placing his trust in a humble panda. That's enough to seal the deal.

"Okay. I believe you."

By the time Po drags himself to his feet the next morning, it's still dark and chilly. The last remnants of summer are quickly drifting away, and he can definitely feel it. Despite his thick fur, he rubs his hands together for heat. He's glad he has his coat with him, although it does significantly reduce his bag's free space.

"We will stop for breakfast when the sun comes up." Tigress sounds like she has the entire day planned out. "And then for lunch when the sun is at it's peak, and then dinner when it goes down."

That's a lot of walking, but Po can't find it in himself to complain. No one else is whining, after all. They're marching on, as they should be. Crane's eyes droop with the weight of sleep, but his feet move on like nothing's wrong.

"So, the mountain isn't really haunted, is it?" Crane breaks the silence of the early hours.

"It doesn't matter." Tigress says, but it does matter to him.

This interests Po more than a little bit. He thought the avian wasn't being too serious when they discussed it before. "You really don't like ghosts, do you?"

"Who does?" The avian sounds flabbergasted at the question.

"Good point." The panda concedes. So even Crane is afraid of things like these.

"Ghosts?" Mantis laughs but holds it in. It's morning and most people aren't awake yet, after all, and his voice is much louder than most realize. "Yeah, I'll believe it when I see it."

"Careful," Viper humorously warns. "Don't jinx yourself, Mantis."

Monkey nods. "That's how you get killed in those horror stories, man, I thought we talked about this already."

"How creepy can one mountain get, anyway?" Mantis is obviously not listening. "It's probably just a tall hill will lots of trees."

"The mountain looks quite unusual, from what I've read from the scrolls." Tigress tells him.

He rolls his eyes. "Unusually normal?"

"Mantis." Crane doesn't seem pleased.

"What?"

He stops and looks to the distance. "Unusual like that."

His fellow master thought he has a smart retort ready, but it dies away very quickly. He didn't notice it before because of the fog, but they've been looking at the mountain all along. Instead of a carpet of lush green over it's smooth surface, the tip and parts by it's sides are jagged and sharp. Even in the morning, the trees look dark and eerily ominous, the leaves many shades lower than the ones they're used to.

It almost looks like an old, abandoned home.

"Well," Mantis gives it a do over. The fog blankets the mountain like a long lost lover, enveloping it in it's grasp. "Shit."

* * *

 **Here's some plot stuff, guys. What do you think of the mystery, so far? Sorry for the short chapter, it kinda seemed superficial to add anything more when all I wanted to do here was flesh out the story a bit.**


	14. Forward

**Yup, sorry for the long ass wait.**

* * *

"Wow." Po whistles, looking to the looming mountain. "It really does look haunted."

Crane doesn't look too pleased about that. It might have been the panda's imagination, but he could have sworn he saw the avian's legs tremble for a bit. "It's something, alright." He tries to play it cool, but the waver in his voice is noticable.

By now, Tigress is already tired of telling them to quit it with all this talk about ghosts, so she just walks ahead and assumes everyone is keeping up. "It will be dark in there, even during the day. Keep your senses sharp."

"Agreed." Viper adjusts her pace to wind up next to the tiger. "I wouldn't want to get lost in there."

"Me neither." Po feels the fur on his skin stand up slightly at the thought of himself alone in the middle of a pitch black forest. He doesn't want to think about it.

"You will have my protection." Tigress' words hold the truest of intentions, but Monkey can't resist batting his eyelashes and pretending to swoon as he makes a comical kissing gesture to Po.

Monkey wriggles his eyebrows. "Your personal protection?"

Tigress turns her head just enough to leer behind her. "Your tone makes me uneasy, Monkey."

Po clears his throat. It seems that the master is perfectly content to use the panda as a poking stick to annoy her as often as possible.

"Aw, don't be like that, Po." Monkey shoves the panda lightly, not enough to even hurt him.

The walk to the foot of the mountain passes without incident. Tigress had thought that them walking in the silent streets would somehow attract trouble, but many have called her paranoid before. That, or even the people usually foolish enough to get in her way are still asleep. It's quite early, after all, and even the small pockets of people who are diligent enough seem drowsy and tired. They pass a goose here and a horse there, but the place is practically deserted.

The tiger's ears pick up everything in her surroundings, the sounds of clattering in houses and how the occasional footsteps slow down as a citizen eyes them from the sidelines. She can also hear Po's nervous breaths from behind her, shorter and harder than they should be. One, two, three steps ring in the air as she wonders if she should console him. It's not like anything she says to him will change whatever will happen up there, but in her experience, guarding a skittish person does not ever turn out well. Either they end us screaming and running and making everything harder for everyone by getting in the middle of the fight or they quit halfway and demand to be escorted back into safety.

Tigress doesn't think a few comforting words would hurt, and avoiding Monkey's suggestive snickers isn't worth botching the mission. "No harm will come to you as long as I am here."

"Of course not." Even though Po's response is calm, she can hear his breath catch when he hears her words.

"We will put our lives on the line so that you won't be harmed. It's what we do."

Viper slaps her tail to her face somewhere in the back.

"Yeah, thanks." Po's response sounds the faintest bit disappointed.

And Tigress doesn't pick up why. "Is there a problem?"

"Of course not." His reply sounds rushed. "There's no problem." He laughs nervously.

Monkey holds back a laugh.

"You sound agitated, Po." Tigress presses again.

"Tigress..." Viper doesn't know how to put it, but the rather uncomfortable look Po is clearly showing makes it impossible to resist intervening. "Um..."

She considers ignoring her at first, and then the feline sees Mantis awkwardly averting his eyes, Crane doing the same, and Monkey looking like he's holding back a grimace. Po, on the other hand, has an expression that reminds her of a timid child's first day in Kung Fu class. "Is something wrong?"

"Oh, boy..." Mantis grumbles to himself.

"Wait, we haven't had breakfast yet." Po suddenly changes the subject.

Tigress' ear perks up at the mention of food, but it's not visible to anyone who isn't paying attention. "Are you hungry?"

"I'm always hungry." Po enthusiastically rubs his tummy, but then he remembers they have to get there as fast as possible. "Uh, but I can wait."

"Very well, then." She continues walking without a stop. "We will have breakfast when the sun has fully risen. By that time, we will be ahead of schedule."

Crane isn't aware that they had a schedule, but he stays quiet. "Aren't we going to bring any torches? I can't see in the dark."

That hasn't escaped Tigress' attention. Some time ago, she often forgot that she and Viper are the only ones that don't need light to utilize the full potential full senses. Being a tiger, her eyesight isn't as sharp as a normal cat's in the dark, but they do the job well. It's not like the others are defenseless in pitch black darkness, but none of them want to take chances.

Being a master is a dangerous job in itself, and none of them need to add dulled senses to the equation.

"There will be fallen branches in the forest. We can make torches." The feline replies.

"It'll take time, though." Crane runs the process in his head. They'd need only one if they're all going to stick close together. "But it's better than nothing, I guess."

Monkey seems to have come to the same conclusion. "I don't think it's a good idea for us to huddle together in there, man. Fish in a barrel, right?"

"Unfortunately." Mantis agrees.

"Me and Tigress will cover you." Viper offers. "No one's ever escaped us in a hunt and no one has ever caught us off guard in a situation like this, so I think we'll be fine."

"Wow." Po whistles. "You guys think of everything, don't you?"

"Of course." Monkey looks dumbfounded by the panda's conclusion. "Hey, charging into fights alone when we know we won't win is how most of us wind up dead."

"In other words," Mantis continues. "We're not the Furious Five just because we can kick ass. Your head's your best weapon."

That's a bit surprising for the panda. "I thought it was just because you could punch your way through anything."

"Oh, that too." Mantis chuckles. "But you know how Master Charging Bull died."

It takes Po only the fraction of a second to find out which one Mantis is talking about. "The third Master Bull, right? He died when he tried to stop a ship from crashing into these seaside homes with his bare hands."

"Yeah, he could have just told everyone to evacuate or gotten on the ship and tried to steer it away." He doesn't seem very impressed. "Instead, he wrote some poem while waiting on the beach so he could try and stop it by pushing it away."

"Didn't he succeed, though?" Po distinctly remembers that the scrolls said he successfully saved everyone.

"Yeah, and we lost one hell of a master because he was a textbook honor kind of guy." He has a point.

To that, the panda can't disagree. The brief conversation almost makes him forget about the mountain they'll inevitably have to climb, and when his eyes are fixed forward again, the dark and almost jagged landmark looms over him like a sinister sleeping giant. He finds himself almost dreading to walk the first uphill step, even if it's seems so far away.

Tigress doesn't look back, though, and neither do the others. Viper's tongue darts in and out a bit too fast and Monkey's steps seem a tad more careful, but Tigress keeps her sure and confident gait, naturally walking a step further than all of them. It's almost like she can't wait to get up there and fight her way through anyone or anything that disagrees. She clenches and unclenches her fists slowly as they walk closer and closer.

The villagers begin to exit their homes and chatter starts to fill the air, but her eyes never waver. Children point and adults glance at them, yet she never even gives them a passing glace. Her eyes are locked to her goal, as they should be, as they have always been.

Of course, until Po begins talking again. "We should roast our dinner tonight." He speaks, breaking the silence between them. "It'll be great, since we usually never do that. Oh, do I have enough stuff to make it good?" He absentmindedly talks to himself, running recipes in his head as they continue on their way. "I've got salt and..."

His words go in and out of Tigress' ear effortlessly as she tries to block his voice out and returns to her previous thought. The Dragon Warrior and Fenghuang. She'll take it from the owl's dead body if she needs to, and she knows she won't hesitate to dig her claws into the former Furious Five's strongest member if she has to.

The Dragon Scroll will be hers.

"Uh, Tigress..."

Fenghuang won't live to see another day when she pries the scroll from her talons.

"Tigress?"

She will be the Dragon Warrior.

"Tigress..."

The master almost jumps when she feels a poke on the back of her arm. She swiftly turns around to the sight of a certain panda pulling back his finger, leaning a bit backwards as if he's expecting to get yelled at. "What is it?" She doesn't raise her voice, but the tension is thick in her question.

"Nothing..." Po trails off for a moment before he rubs his neck with a nervous laugh. "You kinda looked angry back there for a moment."

Anger is different from dedication, she'd like to tell him. She turns around and begins walking again, eyes on the road once more. "I'm not angry. Now, is there anything else?"

"N-No." The shiver in his reply doesn't escape their hearing. It doesn't help that they're nearing the mountain. Perhaps it's the brisk pace that the masters are keen to maintain, but they're arriving there faster than he'd like. They pass under the dull red arch that separates the small town from the outside, dread begins to tower over the panda.

They've left the safety of civilization now. The sounds of talking and merchants setting up shop begin to fade and the sound of rustling leaves and the distant rush of waters take over. He feels a small desire to run back and stay in the inn until they come back with the scroll in their hands, but the larger part of his brain tells him to stay and walk. They'll keep him safe.

Just in case, he walks a little bit closer to Tigress' back.

"If it will make you feel better, it's said that ghosts cannot do physical harm." Viper helpfully informs him. "They can speak and appear and they aren't kept out by doors or walls, but they can't strangle you or hit you."

"And we can't hit them, either." The piece of information doesn't seem to have helped Crane feel better.

This only means one thing to the tiger. "Therefore, we should not concern ourselves with them. I have received many requests to fight demons from people all over China, and I have always insisted that they oil their doors and fix their roofs. The ones who heeded my words never asked for me again, and the ones who didn't often gave offerings to make up for wasting my time. Viper once disguised herself as a ghost in her infiltration missions, she knows how easy it is to scare the cowardly."

Viper seems like she's hesitant to say anything. "Um, yes, I guess I did..."

"So you're thinking that the ghosts could be just people trying to scare outsiders away?" Mantis asks.

"That is a much more plausible idea."

"I hope." Po grimly adds. "I told campfire stories with the neighborhood kids back then. I was always the first one to go home because I was too scared."

"Well, you'd better buckle up." Monkey pats his back. "We're almost there."

And he's right. It's hard to imagine them having walked so far in such a short period of time, but the forest is there. The trees are thick and old, the wood strengthened with age. Fallen leaves and branches litter the ground below and the trees are so tall that Po can't see the tops. And right there, just beyond the thick layer of green and brown, is the mountain.

No turning back, now.


	15. Snippets

Po has never known a silence like this in his whole short life. It's different from the silence of the noodle shop when it's late and no one is there when he's grabbing a midnight drink of water, it's the silence that's not even literal yet too odd for words. He knows it can't be true, but it's like the tall and thick trees around him are pressing in towards them. Whenever he turns his head, he feels a shiver on the back of his neck like someone is right behind him, breathing just far enough for him to not feel the cold huffs on the surface of his skin. The sound of rushing waters don't comfort him at all.

The forest itself seems like it hasn't been touched in ages. There are no abandoned campfires or unused trails, and he can't see a footprint in sight. It really does seem like no one has ever been here.

A cold breeze passes by and he shivers more than a simple gust of wind should make him do so, and they haven't even reached the mountain.

"Hey, look." Viper's keen eye spots something Po almost doesn't want to see.

A vast expanse of old leaves and grass paves the way to a tall arch that's not unlike the kinds they see at the edge of most towns, except most of those arches are very much well maintained and nicely painted. This one is made of three logs tied together with thick ropes, a clear contrast to the usually meticulously crafted ones of the kingdom's bigger settlements. The ropes are dark with age, but the wooden supports are thick and they stand strictly upright. An equally sturdy wooden bridge runs over a calm river with waters as clear as a mirror, also of simplistic design yet obviously standing strong.

"That's weird." Mantis observes. "The maps don't say anything about stuff going on in here. Why is that thing even there?"

Monkey seems to agree with his position. "Don't know, but from what I've heard, no one's been here in a long time and that thing looks old as balls. Whatever's been here's been camping out in this place for a while."

"Fenghuang was exiled many years ago." Tigress adds up the information in her head. It all makes sense. "It's probable that she chose to hide here." That doesn't explain the reports of 'ghosts' scaring away soldiers, but she chooses not to address that thought.

"I don't think she's alone." The gears in Viper's head are turning as they approach closer and closer to the arch.

To Po, it almost looks like the beginning of the gateway to hell. "Uh, how do you know?" He hopes they don't smell his fear like they hear the crunching of his feet and the leaves below.

"It's not possible to build this all without at least someone else helping to lift and tie things up at the same time." Viper explains to him, her logic sound. "The logs would just fall all over the place, otherwise."

Tigress nods. The snake really is worthy of her current position in the Five, if anyone asks her. "Good job, Viper. Everyone, keep your eyes open. It seems that we have more than just Fenghuang to worry about."

"I don't think my eyes can open any further." Crane remarks and brushes away a stray leaf that falls on his long beak.

The bridge doesn't even creak with their combined weight over the aged construct. Po begins to feel the extra effort he has to put into his walking when the ground starts to slope upwards.

"Take a look at that." Crane points to a spot somewhere between the trees. A wooden platform is strategically placed on a tree, facing the bridge and the plain patch of land that comes before it. His wings beat quietly as he rises to it's level, and his landing is delicate on the platform's rails.

"What do you see?" Tigress inquires.

The avian takes a moment to carefully observe the abandoned watchtower, crouching down to look for any trace of another creature or anything at all. He shakes his head. "Nothing interesting." He says, as he leaps and safely lands on the ground. "But someone's been there recently. There are no leaves or branches there. Someone must have swept them off."

"Of course," Viper nods along with him. "Otherwise, they would be a very noisy guard."

Po decides to ask the obvious question. "So... a guard's supposed to stand guard, right? Why is no one there?"

"It's possible that they knew we were coming." Tigress suggests. "They might have seen us on the plains and retreated to alert their comrades."

Another darker possibility presents itself in the panda's head. "Or they're leading us to a trap. That could be it, right?" When she looks at him with that stone still gaze of hers, he immediately takes his words back. "O-Or they could just be scared, right? I mean, it's you guys here, anyone would run away and be scared."

"No, you were right." Tigress reassures him as she begins to walk again. "It could be a trap."

"Remember the drill, boys." Viper reminds them. "Don't go into enclosed spaces or flimsy structures. Don't stick too close or we could be targeted by an area trap."

"And get ready to kick some ass." Mantis adds.

Viper grins. "That too, obviously."

AAA

Monkey's leg swings in a slow arc as he makes himself comfortable on a particularly thick branch and this is one of the things that are currently in the list of things that are making a certain panda less than okay. The food in his stomach feels like it's lurching around when he imagines the master dozing off and falling down on him.

Even Crane seems to be calming down as his eyes begin to droop. His back is to the sturdy bark of an old tree and the early morning awakening is starting to catch up to him. His head finally falls downwards as he descends into a pleasant nap. Viper and Mantis make sure to turn down the talking to let the former janitor rest.

"You seem nervous." Tigress observes. Even during a restful period, her back is straight. She doesn't seem bothered by sitting down on grass, probably because she's had to do it many times before.

Po's eyes glance up towards a certain master who also seems to have fallen prey to lack of sleep. "Uh, is he gonna be okay?"

"I will warn you if he falls." She readily says. "That is, considering he doesn't wake up and save both you and himself from the embarrassment."

"You know that I'll probably not be fast enough to dodge, right?" Po chuckles.

"Po, you forget that—"

"Ew!" Mantis leaps away from the patch of dirt he was standing on.

His outburst catches Viper by surprise, but it's nice to see him furiously rubbing his feet on the ground instead of in danger or anything words. "What is it?"

"That." Mantis points to the strange, almost transclucent object he was standing on. "Don't tell me that's what I think it is."

The object looks like a faintly see-through tube that's both wrinkled and discolored with dirt. Viper doesn't need to look for long to figure out what it is. "It's... shedding?"

"I fucking knew it." Mantis shivers.

The snake rolls her eyes. "Mantis, it's basically like clipped off claws for snakes."

"More like peeled off skin." He refutes. "It's like stepping on a severed arm!"

"Then you probably don't want to know that this doesn't look too old."

He takes a step back. "How do you know?"

"I'm a snake, Mantis." Viper doesn't feel like this needs some more explanation.

Honestly, Tigress doesn't care. Without pause, she leaves her post and is within an arm's reach from the reptile before Po can even stand. "What do you see?"

"A snake's been here recently." She informs them, crinkling her eye at the dead skin on the ground. "Not a very neat one, either."

Mantis visibly cringes when Tigress picks it up and takes a deep sniff, and so does everyone else. With nothing more than a displeased scowl, she tosses it away and shakes her hands to rid her palms and fingers from the dirt. "I smell nothing but dirt and rain."

"You did not just do that." Mantis looks a bit queasy.

Po is thinking the same thing, but he's smart enough to keep his mouth shut.

Tigress seems even more tense than usual, afterwards. Every misstep Po takes that creates even the littlest noise maker her fingers twitch and her fur stand. He thought that it would wear off after a few hours, but he thought wrong. She bends down and gets back up too quickly to be able to fetch a drink of water properly at the river and the very air seems to grow thick with the buzzing thoughts in her head.

Hours pass and the tightness in her shoulders doesn't let up. Po doesn't think it's a 'master thing', as he's come to dub the things his newfound companions do. Monkey seems ready to resume the nap he had to cut short earlier and Crane seems to be scribbling something in his journal. Viper is curling up around the campfire, lazily stretching. Mantis is nowhere to be seen, probably dozing off in Crane's hat or somewhere equally predictable.

The woods are dark, but the moon is bright and the rays make it through the gaps between the trees. The old blanket around Po's shoulders are barely enough to keep him warm. The winds aren't harsh at all, but they're getting higher and the bite of the cold grows ever more vicious. There's no was the old green fabric can keep him warm, even with his thick fur. It's too small as it is. He loved it so much, the first gift Mr. Ping gave to him, that he refused to get a bigger one that actually fit him. It's a little secret he keeps. He still covers himself with it every night, although it looks more like rags now.

"You're shivering." Tigress says, watching him warm his hands.

"Y-Yeah." He tries to will away the chattering of his teeth.

She takes a gander at her pack and reaches inside it. "It takes a while to get used to sleeping in a place that's not a warm bed, I've heard."

He tries to see what she's reaching for, but no such luck. "Definitely true." He keeps his answer short. He knows the 'I've heard' is there because she probably made herself right at home in the harsh wilderness.

The tiger pulls out a neatly folded blanket. It's a plain dark blue color and it looks well worn. Obviously, she's had it for quite a while. "Have my blanket."

The cold in the panda's face is instantly negated by the rush of hotness that shoots to his cheeks. "But what about you?"

"I don't need one." Is her answer. She holds it up, clearly waiting for him to accept.

"Won't you get cold?" He still can't bring himself to take it. Every fanboy nerve in his body is urging him to take it, but it's as is his limbs are frozen. He can't turn down a blanket that belongs to _Tigress_ , but he can't accept. What kind of person would he be if he let her stew away in the cold?

"I'm taking first watch tonight." Tigress tells him. "I won't be sleeping any time soon. I'm also used to the cold."

"Yeah, but you can't be immune to it." Po reasons.

She doesn't seem fazed at all. "And you are neither immune nor used to it."

"Good point..." Po slumps defeatedly, but he still won't be beat. "But I can't do this. What if you get sick because I'm curling up with your blanket while you sit there?"

"And you're suggesting that I let you wake everyone up with your teeth chattering?" She tightens her jaw when she sees a look of hurt cross the cook's face. "I'm... sorry. That was a bad joke. It was a joke."

 _Joke. Tigress_. The two words don't seem to mix, initially, but they bring a smile to Po's face. "It's good to see you calm down a little."

"Are you going to take it or not?" Tigress holds the blanket closer to him. Her eye twitches. This is going to be a long night.

* * *

 **Okay, nothing serious yet. Just some filler. Should Po take the blanket? As usual, I didn't spellcheck. Tell me if something's off!**

 **I have an announcement for the next update.**


	16. Here Comes the Light

Po lets the hushed chit chats of the masters lull him to sleep, curling himself into a ball to fit his body under Tigress' blanket. It's not very warm and it's quite a bit scratchy on him but it works. Before long, he slips off.

Then comes the most annoying part of the night: the bothersome bladder that needs to be emptied. The dull throb in the panda's head suggests that it hasn't been long since he fell asleep. Upon opening his eyes, his suspicion is confirmed. It's still dark and the fire is still burning. His limbs feel like there's steel strapped to them.

"You are awake?" Tigress asks, her eyes barely fogged by fatigue.

"Yeah." He stretches his limbs tiredly. "I'm just going to go to the bathroom. Uh, not bathroom. Since there's no bathroom. Y'know."

"I see."

"Don't go too far." Monkey yawns, briefly awakened from his slumber. "That's how people get kidnapped. Trust me, if I had a coin for every person I had to escort that almost got taken because of bathroom stuff, I'd be able to buy the Jade Palace."

"That's not very reassuring, Monkey." Viper points out. "One of us can go with Po."

"Ugh, Fenghuang just has to look like an average owl, doesn't she?" Mantis rolls his eyes. "Why can't she have golden feathers or some huge scar or something? That would make tracking her that much easier."

"Expect a decoy target when we reach her." Tigress tells him.

"Guys, it's okay." Po rubs his neck. It's sore from the hard ground that he's still very not used to. "I'll yell if I have anyone trying to attack me. I won't be caught with my pants down."

"You will." Monkey knowingly says. "Trust me, not pleasant."

"Once again, not very reassuring." Viper struggles to hold her laughter.

"I'll go with you." Mantis springs to his feet, cocking his head to some random direction. "C'mon."

 _It's Mantis, you'll be okay._ He recites in his head. _Nothing bad's going to happen_. Everything's gone smooth so far, right?

At one point, when it's so dark that they almost can't see anything more than the silhouettes of the old trees, they stop. Mantis turns around to give Po an ounce of privacy. The panda sighs in relief and begins to fiddle with his pants when a loud _thunk_ from behind him makes his blood run cold.

He turns around. Mantis isn't there.

Mantis isn't there and he can't shout or move or breathe because there's something around his neck that's cold and scaly. He opens his mouth and tries to cry for help again but his throat burns. The most he can let out is a weak whimper before his vision swims and his consciousness fades.

He hears something before he's out cold, though; a very angry, very displeased roar that seems to echo deep into his mind. Beastly. He can feel his captor shiver at the very sound.

* * *

"So you're awake."

And warm. There's a blanket around him. His eyes snap open and the first thing he sees is a sturdy wooden ceiling.

No, no, no. He shouldn't even be here right now. He should be in that cold, creepy forest witht the Furious Five.

"I can see that you're up, Po. You've always got that 'oh shit' look on your face, kid, but I guess you're kind of in a crap situation right now."

That voice.

"Master Cobra?" He enunciates all the vowels slowly and clearly, if only to snap himself back into reality. Just as he guessed, he's still in a perfectly comfortable room with the snake and he's fine and seemingly safe. And then the full ramifications of his situation comes toppling down. "Wait..."

"Yep. Here it comes."

" _You_ took me?" Po's jaw drops like a brick. "Holy crap, oh no, oh no, oh no. You're with her. You're with Fenghuang, aren't you?"

"Well, no shit, son." Cobra rolls her eyes sarcastically. "Look, I got a good explanation for all of this sneaky darkness bullshit that's been going on and no one's gonna like it."

"Stealing's wrong. Stealing the Dragon Scroll is _ridiculous_." He continues, as if he hasn't heard a word she said. "Why did you even do something like that? I know you were a candidate to be the Dragon Warrior, but that-"

"Po." Cobra says with a sense of finality. "Shut. Up."

And he does.

"The public doesn't know that the Scroll's gone. They still think it's still up in the Palace, being all priceless and mystic and safe. Well, guess what? It's not."

"Wait, it's not priceless and mystic?" He just seems confused now.

"Agh, no!" Cobra smacks herself in the face with her tail. "God damn it, it's not safe over there. I mean, look at that damn palace. It screams 'priceless artifacts right here' to anyone who's got half decent common sense."

"But the Furious Five are protecting it." He tosses out the most obvious defense. "And Master Shifu and Oogway."

Cobra scoffs. "Heh. Trust me on this, but they're gonna be fucked."

The sureness in her words makes his stomach drop. He knows a fighter like this one never says anything she doesn't mean. "What do you mean?"

The temperature in the room drops. "You're a huge Kung Fu nerd. You tell me this: what's the most sacred rule a master's got to follow, no matter what?"

"Unless it's absolutely needed, a master will not take a life." He confidently says.

"The other one."

Oh. That one. "In a fight, a master shall not use their beaks, talons, venom, claws, teeth, anything they have that will kill. Life is sacred and any master known to use these will be stripped of their title."

"Yeah. Any random loser using that is dangerous enough for the average guy, but what about a master, huh? And not just any master, but the most talented son of a bitch who happens to be strong as hell and really wants to know the secret of the Dragon Scroll?"

There's only been one case in a long time of any master using his 'natural weapons' to maim and kill. "The previous Furious Five were given tasks by Master Oogway, and whoever completed them best would become the next Dragon Warrior, but there was one Master who completed his by slaughtering everyone who went against him. He tried to hide what he did, but he was found out."

"Yeah. That one."

"Master Snow Leopard, Master Shifu's son." He robotically says.

"It's not Master Snow Leopard anymore. Just Tai Lung. And he's escaped and heading to the Jade Palace right now."


	17. Interlude: Cryptic Days

A crocodile comes crashing through the door, which flies off the old hinges and onto the dusty floor. He tries to get on his feet but his gut twists in pain like there's broken plates in his belly. It's bad enough even before a foot stomps him back on the floor. The nauseous groan doesn't deter Tigress, who only digs her heel into him more.

"You lot are stronger than I thought." Fenghuang yawns, crossing her legs. She doesn't even get up from her chair. "I guess there's no 'liability of the team' in this generation's Furious Five. Gonna be that much harder to choose who the Dragon Warrior is going to be."

"Silence." Tigress' stare doesn't break. The four follows her into the old hut. Who knew such a humble abode would be the lair of the most famous of the exiled masters? "Give me the panda and the scroll."

"Why do you still ask for him?" The owl questions. "You've found me. That's the only reason the poor man had to come, hm? Because he is the only one who knows my face."

"He has no involvement in this." The tiger growls. "Give him to me."

"He is safe back in the valley." Fenghuang sighs, shaking her head. This master is quite the angry one. "As you said, he is simply a citizen caught in the crossfire of the politics of masters and he deserves peace."

Viper's eyes would be narrowing if it were possible. She could be lying and she could be telling the truth. The logical assumption is that the enemy will always lie, but something in her gut tells her something different. "What are you up to, Fenghuang? What's your game?"

"To open the eyes of China." Her answer is direct and simple. "We masters are picked from the most promising youths scattered all over the land. For years, we endure soul-breaking training and then forget our names to become living weapons. Five of the most promising of the masters are chosen to be the Furious Five, and then there's the dream of all who practice our art: becoming the Dragon Warrior."

"You had your shot years ago, you hag." Monkey smirks. "Time to retire."

A slow, pitying laugh. It grows from soft chuckles to a blaring, obnoxious laugh that seems to echo from the walls. Fenghuang shakes her head. "You think I want to be the Dragon Warrior? Oh, how wrong you are."

Even Tigress is speechless, but there are no needs for words. Her fists will do the talking. One rock hard punch tears through the chair Fenghuang was reclining on just a second ago.

"My, my, Shifu certainly has an eye for talent." Fenghuang smirks, a spark in her beady eyes. "Don't catch me wrong, I hold no value for that scroll that the Coucil loves so much. I'm certainly glad I saved you five, however."

* * *

"What do you mean they're not going to find it?" Po impatiently asks. "And where am I?"

"You're back in the Valley of Peace. My house." Cobra's face shows a hint of concern. "And I hope my wife got out of the Jade Palace like I told her to, because that place is going to be a hellhole."

"I can't believe you did this." The panda can't even process what she's saying. "I've known you ever since I was so young. Well, not really who you are, but-"

"Po. I know you feel powerless, and that's why you admire the powerful. But that's the thing with power. You earn it and you'll want to keep it, make it bigger, so that no one can ever take it away." Cobra says, like bile is in her throat. "I'm glad that you have so much faith in me that you couldn't see me doing a deed this awful. Think what you will of me, but I don't regret my choices, for I have saved the Furious Five."

Did he hear that right? "You saved the Furious Five? How?"

"Tai Lung was the ultimate symptom of a disease. The Grandmasters' obsession with the scroll spread to the masters and you know we all greed for the power it holds. It's evil, Po. You bleed for years and years to see nothing in that scroll for you, and it changes people. It was only a matter of time. They locked him up not because he was too strong for them, solely because they have strength in numbers, but because their arrogance wanted to parade him as an example to spread the scroll's legend. Now, he's escaped and he will stop at nothing to find it." She says, unlatching some sort of attic door on the ceiling.

"Wait, where are you going?"

"Minimizing casualties. If I don't make it, someone's going to get you out of here tomorrow." The door swings open. Her pride won't let Po see the look on her face. "I've said it before, but you're a good kid and I never say anything I don't mean. A real good kid. Wish I could stay here and watch over you. Listen, faith is good. I know you believe if having a good world and I know you can make it happen, but some things are rotten to the ground and you have to burn it down to build something new right on top of it's corpse."

What the hell does that mean, though? "Master Cobra... I don't understand. Please let me go, I need to find the Furious Five."

"You will. And they'll be glad to see you."

That's the last thing she says before she shuts the door behind her. A click of the lock, and silence will be Po's only company for now.


End file.
